Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus entered his name in the history books on Thursday (February 12) by becoming only the third captain to take four wickets in a T20I match against India. The 30-year-old cricketer bowled four overs of spin against India in the T20 World Cup 2026 match played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on February 12 and picked up four wickets for 20 runs.
Erasmus opened his wicket account by dismissing Ishan Kishan on the first ball of the 8th over of India’s innings and then, on the fifth ball of the 12th over, picked up Tilak Varma’s wicket. While Ishan was caught by Ben Shikongo after scoring 61 runs from 24 balls, JJ Smit completed Tilak’s catch.
Erasmus picked up his remaining two wickets in the 19th over of India’s
innings. On the second ball, he dismissed Hardik Pandya (52 runs from 28 balls), and on the sixth ball, breached Axar Patel’s defence and shattered his stumps. Axar got out for a golden duck.
Former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori was the first captain to take a four-wicket haul in a T20I match against India. On September 16, 2007, in Johannesburg, Vettori also picked up 4 wickets for 20 runs in four overs.
The record of best bowling figures by a captain in a T20I match against India is in the name of Daren Sammy. During the India-West Indies T20I match played in Port of Spain on June 4, 2011, Sammy dismissed 4 Indian batters for just 16 runs in four overs.
Best bowling figures by captains in a T20I match against India
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | OVERS | RUNS | WICKETS | VENUE | DATE |
| Daren Sammy | West Indies | 4 | 16 | 4 | Port of Spain | June 4, 2011 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 4 | 20 | 4 | Johannesburg | September 16, 2007 |
| Gerhard Erasmus | Namibia | 4 | 20 | 4 | Delhi | February 12, 2026 |
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | 4 | 16 | 3 | Ranchi | November 19, 2021 |
| Sikandar Raza | Zimbabwe | 4 | 25 | 3 | Harare | July 6, 2024 |
Erasmus is overall the fourth skipper in the world to dismiss at least four opposition batters in a T20 World Cup match.
Best bowling figures in a T20 World Cup match by captain
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | OVERS | RUNS | WICKETS | AGAINST | VENUE | DATE |
| Rashid Khan | Afghanistan | 4 | 17 | 4 | New Zealand | Providence | June 7, 2024 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 4 | 20 | 4 | India | Johannesburg | September 16, 2007 |
| Zeeshan Maqsood | Oman | 4 | 20 | 4 | Papua New Guinea | Al Amerat | October 17, 2021 |
| Gerhard Erasmus | Namibia | 4 | 20 | 4 | India | Delhi | February 12, 2026 |
| Rashid Khan | Afghanistan | 4 | 23 | 4 | Bangladesh | Kingstown | June 24, 2024 |
Vettori was the first captain to take a four-wicket haul in a T20 World Cup match. He achieved the feat against India in 2007. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan has two four-wicket hauls to his name in the T20 World Cup as captain.
