Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIAN cricketer JJ Smit has rocketed into the world’s top all-rounder rankings after some brilliant performances over the past two months.
According to the International Cricket Council’s latest T20 international rankings, Smit is now ranked fourth in the world amongst all-rounders in T20 international cricket, moving up six places over the past month.
Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan currently leads the International T20 rankings with 276 points, followed by Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh on 232, Moeen Ali of England on 205, and Smit on 177 points.
Smit’s latest success follows a brilliant performance in the final T20 against Uganda in April when he single-handedly led Namibia to a 52-run victory which enabled them to win the series 2-1.
Smit smashed 71 runs off only 35 balls with the bat as Namibia reached 185/7, and then took six wickets for only 10 runs, including a hat-trick as Uganda were skittled out for 133.
It’s the first time that a Namibian player has ever held such a high ranking, but Smit yesterday downplayed his achievement.
“It doesn’t really bother me and I don’t believe in those rankings, because they only take international matches into account and not the Indian Premier League for example. I mean if you look at the IPL, they have much better all-rounders playing there, and if I can’t even play there, it shows that the rankings are a bit unfair,” he said.
“It’s nice to receive international recognition like this, but for me it’s more important that the team does well and that I can contribute to its success,” he added.
Smit missed the Namibian Eagles’ recent trip to Zimbabwe where they made history by beating a Test nation in a series for the first time, but he said he supported them all the way.
“I wasn’t in Zimbabwe because I was recovering from a light injury, but I followed the series on cricinfo and I was ecstatic when they won. I remember in one match, Zane Green hit a four off the last ball to win the match and I was so happy, I was jumping up and down on my bed like a lunatic,” he said, adding:
“I’m proud of the team’s achievement and that they held our names high in Zimbabwe.”
Smit said these were exciting times for Namibian cricket.
“We have built up a great bond and the team’s success has also led to new sponsors coming on board, while it can lead to new opportunities for the players to compete abroad.”
Three years ago Smit became the first Namibian cricketer to be signed up by an international T20 franchise when he played for the Vancouver Knights in the Global T20 Canada series, and he said the opportunity to do so again might arise.
“I have been in talks with some teams and there is a possibility that something might materialise, but nothing has been confirmed.”
For now, though, Smit is gearing up for the upcoming 50-over series against Hong Kong and he said he expected a tough series.
“I don’t know Hong Kong so well, but they are a strong team and will give us a tough test.”
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