New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) Namibia have drafted seam-bowling all-rounder Alex Volschenk into their squad for the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after fast bowler Ben Shikongo was ruled out with a thigh injury, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday.

Shikongo sustained the injury to his right thigh during Namibia’s Group A match against India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on February 12 and was subsequently withdrawn from the tournament. The ICC Event Technical Committee approved Volschenk as his replacement for the rest of the competition.

“The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has approved Alex Volschenk as a replacement for Ben Shikongo in the Namibia squad,” the governing body said in a statement on Monday.

Volschenk has played five T20Is and as many ODIs for Namibia so far and captained them in the 2024 Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. He was already with the Namibia squad as their traveling reserve. Under ICC rules, any replacement requires formal clearance from the Event Technical Committee before the player can be officially added to the squad.

The committee comprises Wasim Khan, ICC General Manager – Cricket, who serves as chair; Gaurav Saxena, ICC General Manager – Events & Corporate Communications and IBC representative; Hemang Amin, Tournament Director and host representative; and former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock, serving as the independent nominee.

Namibia, who are making their fourth successive appearance at the Men’s T20 World Cup, are at the bottom of the Group A points table with no wins so far. Their final league stage match will be played against 2009 champions Pakistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on February 18.

If Gerhard Erasmus-led Namibia manages to pull off an upset win, Pakistan will be knocked out of the competition and USA will take the second Super Eights spot after defending champions India sealed theirs through a 61-run win in Colombo on Sunday.

–IANS

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