By Denis Musali
Ahead of the 1st round of World Challenge League due in early December, a 16 man team has been selected to tour Zimbabwe for five ODI games. The Cricket Cranes will compete with five other nations in the newly created World Challenge League. Uganda is in the same group with neighbors Kenya, Jersey, Bermuda, Italy, and Hongkong.
The 1st round of the Challenge League was initially supposed to take place in Hongkong but due to the political unrest in the country, the tournament was last week rescheduled to Oman from Dec 1st to 12th. Uganda will have home advantage for round 2 of the league that will take place from July 27th to August 2020.
As a build-up towards round one of the World Challenge League, the cricket cranes will travel to Zimbabwe to play six ODI games against select sides in Zimbabwe. Steve Tikolo and his troops have been training for the past four months and this tour will give them a chance to assess the strength and depth of the squad.
Four players have been added to the initial 12 selected for training to make the 16 man team to Zimbabwe. Ronak Patel, Dinesh Nakrani, Jonathan Ssebanja, and Bilal Hassan have added to the group.
Richard Agamire on his first outing with the senior side will get a chance to impress the selectors before the final 14 is named. Youngster Kenneth Waiswa will also need to show off his skills as a batsman since he is no longer selected as an all-rounder. Shahzad Kamal is also available for the tour and his addition to the side adds steel to the middle order while Ronak Patel who had a forgettable Div 3 experience in Oman will need to show that he can add value to the cricket cranes since a lot is expected from him.
The selectors are yet to name the new captain since the removal of Roger Mukasa but Brian Masaba is most likely to step up to the role.
TEAM UGANDA SQUAD FOR ZIMBABWE TOUR 2019
- ARNOLD OTWANI
- SHAZAD KAMAL
- RIAZAT SHA
- ROGER MUKASA
- CHARLES WAISWA
- KENNETH WAISWA
- BRIAN MASABA
- HENRY SSENYONDO
- FRED ACHELAM
- RICHARD AGAMIRE
- HAMU KAYONDO
- FRANK NSUBUGA
- RONAK PATEL
- DINESH NAKRANI
- JONATHAN SSEBANJA
- BILAL HASSAN
UGANDA TOUR TO ZIMBABWE SCHEDULE (TAKASHINGA 3RD NOV - 10TH NOV 2019)
DAY |
TIME |
DATE |
MONTH |
YEAR |
ACTIVITY |
VENUE |
Sunday |
|
3 |
November |
2019 |
Arrive in Zimbabwe |
Robert Int |
Monday |
9.30am |
4 |
November |
2019 |
Uganda vs Takashinga U23 |
Takashinga |
Tuesday |
9.30am |
5 |
November |
2019 |
Uganda vs O.Hararians |
Old Hararians |
Wednesday |
9.30am |
6 |
November |
2019 |
Uganda vs Takashinga |
Takashinga |
Thursday |
|
7 |
November |
2019 |
Rest & Practice |
Takashinga |
Friday |
9.30am |
8 |
November |
2019 |
Uganda vs Zim U19 |
Takashinga |
Saturday |
9.30am |
9 |
November |
2019 |
Uganda vs Takashinga |
Takashinga |
Sunday |
|
10 |
November |
2019 |
Depart |
Robert Int |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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