(Cricket News) The Uganda national side is all set for a historic day, which will see them feature in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the very first time in their history. Additionally it will be Uganda’s first-ever World Cup game, ODIs or T20Is. They are all set to face Afghanistan at the Providence on 4th June at 6 AM (IST).
The Uganda skipper Brian Masaba spoke about the excitement in their camp ahead of a historic feat. And according to their captain, they “carry a whole country’s hopes” on their backs.
“Absolutely huge game for us, our first game at a World Cup, first ever for Uganda in our history, so we are very excited to get going,” Masaba said on the eve of the match. “Obviously, there’s a bit of nerves but we’ve got to keep our focus on the game and try to get the result that we need because we need to kick off the tournament in the right way with good results.
“There’s obviously a lot of excitement back home. It’s not just a first for us in cricket, but I believe we are the third team in any sporting discipline in the country to qualify for the World Cup. So it’s not a small feat. So it’s not just the cricket community that is supporting us, there’s a lot of the other guys in all the other sports, as well as the government back home.”
”So yeah, the whole country is super proud of what this team has achieved and they’re looking forward to seeing us going out there and representing the country with pride. It’s a huge responsibility for us, it’s not just about the cricket anymore, but we carry a whole country’s hopes on our backs.”
The World Cup qualification was a big leap for the Uganda national side. The came through the Africa qualifiers where they managed to defeat a side Zimbabwe to make it to the big stage. They finished second on the seven-team points table, facing a defeat against Namibia, their fellow qualifiers.
Uganda are placed in the Group C at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, will be alongside the likes of West Indies, New Zealand Papua New Guinea and Afghanistan in their group.
“After our qualifier last November, we obviously realised we needed to play a lot of cricket to prepare ourselves for this World Cup; it’s a different level for us,” Masaba said. “And it was very important for us as a team to make sure we come here well prepared having got the right kind of practice. So it was a couple of tours to Sri Lanka, India as well, but a lot of intra-squad games as well.
“So we believe we have practised, we have prepared well for this tournament. Yes, it’s a huge challenge for us. It’s a tough group, but we look forward to the challenge. It’s a couple of the top teams in the world, but it’s going to be very important for us how we show up tomorrow and the kind of cricket that we display out there.”
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