Kenya A Back in Action Today

The Atul Shah Memorial Tournament starts today in Mombasa bringing together Kenya A, Uganda, Tanzania and a CCA XI. Kenya A start with a match against an Ugandan side that have come with plenty to prove. Uganda kept Kenya out of the Under 19's World Cup, and have made huge strides in improving their game over the last couple of years. Of their 14 man squad, Davis Arinaitwe, Emmanuel Isaneez, Jimmy Okello, Raymond Otim and Roger Mukasa are all players who gained experience in the U19 World Cup. It is no secret that they will be hoping to spring another upset on the Kenyans when the two meet at Mombasa Sports Club this morning. Kenya A also have a lot to prove. Not only will they be playing for a place in the final of the tournament, which may well end up being a replay of today's match, but they will also have one eye on a place in the national team to play Bangladesh next month. It will be interesting from Kenya's perspective to see who the selectors choose for the A team this match. Brijal Patel will, one would think, be certain of his place as Captain. Tanmay Mishra is the class batsman in the side, and will also probably be a fairly automatic choice. It is worth noting that a couple of the players originally named in the squad seem to have been replaced. Lameck Onyango does not seem to feature (he was named as Vice Captain previously), nor does Hiren Variayi. Three players that were not originally included, but have been named in today's press release are Jadevji Jeshani, Peter Kituku and Dharshit Shah. There is no explanation of this in the release, but it could be due to injury. Certainly in Onyango's case, he has had his year severly undermined by this so far. No doubt the players will be rotated to a certain extent through the tournament to ensure they all get a game, but expect the players the selectors consider the strongest to be the ones named today. It should be a thrilling match, and well worth going down to watch for anyone in Mombasa.

Teams:

Kenya A (from):

Brijal Patel (Cpt), Nehemiah Odhiambo, Alfred Luseno, Morris Ouma, Malhar Patel, Tanmay Mishra, Rajesh Bhudia, Ashish Karia, Alex Obanda, Jadavji Bhimji, Timothy Muange, David Maina, Jadavji Jeshani, Peter Kituku, Dharshit Shah.

Uganda (from):

Joel Olwenyi, Lawrence Sematimba, Hamza Saleh, Kenneth Kamyuka, Jimmy Okello, Akber Baig, Franco Nsubuga, Raymond Otim, Davies Arinaitwe, Emmanuel Isaneez, Jonathan Ssebanja, Rogers Mukasa, Henry Sebulime, Benjamin Musoke.