Uganda’s men’s cricket national team, the Cricket Cranes, are set to compete in the final ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifiers from September 19 to October 5 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The challenge ahead of the Cricket Cranes is to return to the Cricket World Cup for the second successive time, having made their debut in 2024 in the West Indies.
To boost their preparations for these qualifiers, the team held a twelve-day boot camp in Jinja and will now depart for a seven-day tour of South Africa.
A squad of fifteen players and two reserves has, this Thursday, September 11, been named by Cricket Uganda and officially flagged off by the National Council of Sports.
Cricket Cranes’ Travelling Squad for Tour of South Africa & ICC T20 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifiers:
• 1 Riazat Ali Shah (captain), 2 Frank Nsubuga, 3 Dinesh Nakrani Maganlal, 4 Henry Ssenyondo, 5 Alpesh Ramjani Ravilal, 6 Robinson Obuya, 7 Raghav Dhawan, 8 Juma Miyaji, 9 Shrideep Mangela, 10 Cosmas Kyewuta, 11 Cyrus Kakuru, 12 Joseph Baguma, 13 Innocent Mwebaze, 14 Sumeet Verma*, 15, Gaurav Tomar*.
• Reserves: 16 Bilal Hassan, 17 Matthew Musinguzi.
The team will play three matches against South African franchises, Titans (twice) and Lions, alongside specialised training sessions from September 12-18.
Head Coach Abhay Sharma and Captain Riazat Ali Shah spoke to the media at the flag-off ceremony at the Lugogo Cricket Oval.
“I can tell you that our team is 85 per cent ready for the task ahead. What remains is fine-tuning and ensuring belief. I don’t take pressure – I prefer to give pressure instead. I want the matches in South Africa to be high scoring. I want our bowlers to be tested under fire, and our batsmen to fully showcase their skills. That is the only way to play this game. We look forward to everything that will be put before us. It is time to work,” coach Abhay Sharma said.
“The roles of every player are clearly defined. The batsmen must score runs; the bowlers must operate clinically with their field sets, get dot balls and take wickets. If we all deliver individually, the team will function as a well-drilled unit.
Titans and Lions will give us a tough test, the kind we need before Zimbabwe. And we count on our fans in Harare to rally behind us – because there will be no easy games, even in the warm-ups,” Captain Riazat Ali Shah said.
After the tour of South Africa, the Cricket Cranes will connect directly to Zimbabwe where they will play two warm-up matches before the tournament bowls off.
Tournament Warm-up Matches:
• September 22: Uganda vs Namibia
• September 24: Uganda vs Malawi
Cricket Cranes’ tournament will kick off September 26 with a match against the hosts Zimbabwe.
ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup Groups:
• GROUP A: Namibia, Botswana, Nigeria, Malawi.
• GROUP B: Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania.
Only two teams, the finalists, will qualify for the 2026 T20 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka and India.
