Kenya's selectors have named the squad for the Atul Shah quadrangular tournament featuring Uganda, Tanzania and a CCA XI, as well as the squad that will tour Denmark later in the month.
Captaining the side will be Brijal Patel (28), who continues in this role after the match against Holland in the lead up to the Intercontinental Cup. Constantly on the fringes of the national side, he is running out of time to cement a place there. He is however experienced, and should be able to set a good example to the youngsters in the side, especially when it comes to fielding.
Vice Captain Lameck Onyango (32), returns to representative cricket after an injury induced lay off and will be the voice of experience in the side. Also likely his last chance to claim a place in the the national team.
Other players included are:
Rajesh Bhudia (21), who bowled well against Holland in both the Kenya A game and the Intercontinental Cup match, will hopefully get more of a chance to show what he is made of. Under bowled against Holland, he has shown domestically that he is capable of taking wickets.
Alfred Luseno (24) has much expected of him. He is touted as being a genuine strike bowler for Kenya, but needs to prove himself. So far, he has not produced the goods against quality opposition, but there is still time if he can gain confidence from these tours.
Nemiah Odhiambo (22) is another bowler who has been briefly selected for the senior side this year, but been under-bowled. He is possibly one of the mainstays of our bowling in the future, so hopefully can realise his potential this tour.
Ashish Karia will just have turned 20 by the time the Atul Shah tournament starts. One of the picks from the bowling during Kenya's drawn match with Holland, he gets another chance to show what he can do. Expect this to be a brief platform for him before a call up to the national team.
Maurice Ouma (23) drops down to the A team to help him regain his form. After a solid 2005, this year has started badly for the young wicketkeeper, and he will be hoping for some big scores over the next month to restore his confidence.
Tanmay Mishra (19) has been one of the finds of the year so far. Despite being only 19, he has batted with maturity for Kenya's national team, often when others around him crumbled. His inclusion in the A side will be soley to give him more experience at the crease, and I fully expect to see him recalled to the national side for their next match.
Malhar Patel (22) will be hoping for a better showing than his efforts so far. His only ODI resulted in a first ball duck against Pakistan in 2004, and against Holland he scored 29 off 84 in Kenya A's loss. He is still young, and will be looking to reward the selector's faith in him.
Timothy Mwangi (22), I don't know much about other than that he played for the under 19s. We shall see what he has to offer.
Alex Obanda - Kongoni's wicketkeeper. I'm told he has potential, but he didn't show it in Kenya A's match against Holland when he made a duck. Let's hope he comes good this tournament.
"Malindi" Jadevji - A player I know nothing about. We shall see.
Hiren Variayi - ditto.
David Maina - ditto
Hafeez Manji , who is still at school, replaces David Maina for the tour of Denmark. Apparently Manji is a batsman of some potential. Still very young, he has plenty of time to prove himself, so will enjoy playing without that pressure.
Amit Bhudia (26) is also included in the squad for the Danish leg. Not only will he have the local knowlege, he also aquitted himself well in his 2 intercontinental matches for Kenya so far. A great chance for Amit to make a claim for a spot in the senior side.
.
All in all a fairly balanced side, and mostly of younger players which is good to see. This is a strong side with plenty to prove that has been put forward by the selectors, so should come out of the tournament winners. No doubt Uganda will have something to say about that, especially as their side will I'm sure include several of the youngsters that kept Kenya out of the U19 World Cup. Less than a week to go and counting...
Posts
2 comments:
Mishra's demotion to the A-team is bit surprising.
Anyway, what I think the boy needs is an overseas stint in England or Australia, at any level. Do you think CK has any plan for him ?
Hi Hossain,
As I said in the article, I think it is more a move to give him more time at the crease than a demotion. An overseas stint would be great, so long as he is able to keep playing for Kenya at the same time. This will also depend on sponsorship which is still thin on the ground...
Post a Comment