KAMPALA – Uganda’s national cricket team, the Cricket Cranes, will depart for Pretoria tomorrow morning for their final build-up ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier in Harare, Zimbabwe. The tour is designed to provide high-performance training and competitive exposure as the team pursues a second consecutive T20 World Cup appearance.
While in South Africa, the Cranes will engage in elite training sessions and face domestic powerhouses Titans and Lions in warm-up matches. These fixtures are expected to test the players under pressure and prepare them for the intensity of continental competition. The objective is to sharpen both batting and bowling units against top-class opposition.
Head coach Abhay Sharma expressed confidence in the team’s approach, emphasizing the need to embrace challenges: “I don’t take pressure – I give pressure instead. We want high-scoring matches and to test our bowlers under fire,” he said ahead of departure.
Captain Riazat Ali Shah echoed his coach’s sentiments, underlining the importance of collective performance: “If everyone delivers individually, the team will function as a well-drilled unit. Titans and Lions will give us the tough test we need,” the skipper remarked.
The South African tour represents the final stage of Uganda’s preparations before heading to Harare for the Africa Qualifier. The squad for the Jinja bootcamp and South Africa tour is: Riazat Ali Shah (captain), Frank Nsubuga, Dinesh Nakrani Maganlal, Henry Ssenyondo, Alpesh Ramjani Ravilal, Robinson Obuya, Raghav Dhawan, Juma Miyaji, Shrideep Mangela, Cosmas Kyewuta, Sumeet Verma, Gaurav Tomar, Cyrus Kakuru, Joseph Baguma, Innocent Mwebaze, Bilal Hassun and Matthew Musinguzi.
