Uganda who are featuring in their very first World Cup after defeating test-nation Zimbabwe have announced their 15-man squad with Brian Masaba leading the Cricket Cranes.
In addition to several Ugandans with more than ten years of experience playing international cricket, including Frank Nsubuga, 43, who will be among the oldest players in the competition, Masaba will be deputized by Riazat Ali Shah.
A rising star in the cricket world, Nsubuga’s selection of the team is the culmination of a lifetime’s love for the game. At the age of seventeen, he made his ICC debut for Uganda in the 1997 ICC Trophy, a qualifying tournament for the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
In 2022, during a Cricket World Cup Challenge League match against Kenya, Nsubuga made headlines for making a sweeping catch that approached the boundary, which took place 25 years later.
Not only has he garnered attention recently, but spin-bowling all-rounder Alpesh Ramjani is poised to maintain the same level of performance that earned him a nomination for the 2023 ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award.
Among the team’s many outstanding all-rounders, Ramjani took the most T20I wickets in men’s cricket last season.
Notable batsmen that can score runs are Riazat Ali Shah and Dinesh Nakrani. Juma Miyaji, a young player, has experience in the U19 World Cup, having participated in the 2022 tournament in the West Indies.
Although Uganda is participating in its first senior men’s World Cup of any kind, the country has previously been represented in an international competition with the now-defunct East Africa squad, which competed in the 1975 Cricket World Cup. With three appearances, Samuel Walusimbi was the only player from Uganda in the squad.
Uganda’s T20 World Cup campaign kicks off in Guyana on June 3 against Afghanistan.
Squad: Brian Masaba (c), Simon Ssesazi, Roger Mukasa, Cosmas Kyewuta, Dinesh Nakrani, Fred Achelam, Kenneth Waiswa, Alpesh Ramjani, Frank Nsubuga, Henry Ssenyondo, Bilal Hassun, Robinson Obuya, Riazat Ali Shah (vc), Juma Miyaji, Ronak Patel.
Travelling Reserves: Innocent Mwebaze, Ronald Lutaaya