India, Feb. 11 -- For associate nations, progress is rarely linear. Teams show spark, stun higher-ranked countries but often fall off the radar. Kenya were semi-finalists in the 2003 ODI World Cup but lost ODI status in 2015. They featured in the 2007 edition of the T20 World Cup but failed to qualify in the editions that followed.

The usual route to progress is through more fixtures against stronger teams, better training facilities, a well-oiled cricket machinery, qualified coaches and a core group that learns how to handle pressure.

An African nation doing all this consistently is Namibia. For them, high performance has been built through exposure, infrastructure and a conscious attempt to create competitiveness within a small ecosys...