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The T20 World Cup beckons for the Cricket Cranes but it will take a lot of concentration and execution for them to get one of two available qualifying spots to the ICC T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. 

The team was flagged off at the National Council of Sports on Thursday morning ahead of their warmup tour of Zimbabwe where they will play a few matches against Takashinga Club and a select U-25 team. 

They will then travel to Namibia where they will take on Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia, Rwanda and Nigeria for one of two places at the World Cup. 

A change in the qualification pathway will see teams qualify directly through their regions. The issue for Uganda will be to try and overcome Zimbabwe and Namibia who played at the 2022 edition in Australia. 

New Cricket Cranes coach, Jackson Ogwang, will have to deliver in his first outing as the man in charge. 

“The dream of playing at the World Cup is motivation enough for the boys. They know what is at stake but our target has always been playing at the highest level. That is something that has been driving us in our preparations and I think it is something that has made us work to where we are right now,” explained Ogwang. 

The team welcomes back brothers Simon Ssesazi and Henry Ssenyondo who were forced out of the Namibia tour after they lost a parent, and Riazat Ali Shah who got some issues with his travel documents. 

They are still without fast bowlers Cosmas Kyewuta and Juma Miyagi who have failed to brush off their injury issues in time for the qualifiers. They have been replaced by David Wabwire and Jonathan Ssebanja 

Nakrani and Shah also didn’t tour Rwanda but with their return there sure is a lot of optimism from the whole team. Nakrani in particular played really well when the team toured Namibia and believes Uganda will qualify for the World Cup. 

“We have played three or four tours in Namibia that is why we are prepared. We know the situation down there, what they have and we don’t have, we know everything. We are confident we are going to the World Cup,” stated Nakrani.