Nigeria’s Men’s Cricket team, the Yellow Greens are optimistic of a good outing at the Pearl of Africa T20 Series in Uganda.
Head Coach of the team, Steve Tikolo, said the tournament will also serve as preparations ahead of the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe in September.
Tikolo said yesterday that the team is excited about the challenge following the postponement of the ILT20 tournament.
“We opened camp on June 23, in Lagos with 20 players in preparation for the ILT20 Cup, which was to take place in Uganda but was later shifted to Rwanda.
“After a week in camp, we got news that the ILT20 was not going to hold and was being shifted to the later part of the year.
“This news was a bit disappointing for us, but we decided we would go on with the camp, keeping an eye on the ICCT20 World Cup qualifier.
Two weeks into the camp, we received good news that we had been invited to be part of the Pearl of Africa series in Uganda.
“This was good news for us because we really needed some game time and the opportunity to play some competitive cricket, since our last outing at the Division Two Qualifiers in November 2024,’’ Tikolo said.
The coach also added that he is confident that the players will make the country proud.
“Our goal is to bring the trophy home. It’s been an upbeat mood in camp.
“The players are looking forward to this tournament in Uganda as we will be facing teams like Kenya, Namibia, the UAE and the hosts Uganda, who are ranked above us.
“We have managed to play 60 T20 matches and would have loved to play more, per the weather conditions have not been in our favour.
“The players also took part in the President’s Cup tournament at the weekend. I am confident in the ability of this team, and we will do our best to make the country proud,’’ Tikolo added.
Nigeria will take on Kenya in their first game today in the round robin tournament.