November 28, 2023 was a red-letter day in the history of Uganda cricket as they posted their first-ever victory over an ICC Full Member side by usurping Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup Africa. A couple of days later, Uganda Cricket had achieved its cherished dream of progressing to the T20 World Cup main event for the first time by thumping Rwanda.
In the mega event, Uganda are placed alongside Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, New Zealand and the West Indies in Group C. Brian Masaba, the bowling all-rounder, is the captain of the side. Frank Nsubuga, who played as a 16-year-old in the ICC Trophy in 1997, is still plying his trade as an off-spinning all-rounder. Alpesh Ramjani, the all-rounder, Riazat Ali Shah and Dinesh Nakrani, the two batters, are the other notable players in the squad. Bilal Hassan is set to spearhead the pace attack.
Papua New Guinea had a forgettable time during the ICC T20 World Cup in 2021, where they finished a lowly 16th. Assadollah Vala once again leads the side. Tony Ura, who has scored more than 1600 runs in T20Is, is one of the mainstays of the batting line-up. Incidentally, the dynamic batter was a part of PNG’s maiden T20I squad in 2015. Chad Soper, the all-rounder, is also a valuable member of the set-up. Sese Bau, Norman Vanua and CJ Amini will also be expected to shore up the line-up. Basically, PNG have an experienced squad.
Scotland, who are slotted in Group B, impressed in both the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups by registering victories over Bangladesh and the West Indies respectively. Chris Sole is their fastest bowler. Meanwhile, Brad Currie, the left-armer, can move the ball both ways and is also adept at shifting angles by bowling from round the wicket.
He showcased his skills by bagging a six-for versus Middlesex in a County game last year and made an impact in the qualifiers with noteworthy figures of 5 for 13 versus Ireland. Richie Berrington, the experienced batter, will lead the set-up. The England-Scotland fixture on June 4 will be one of the matches to look out for.
Oman and Namibia are also clubbed in Group B. Oman, who couldn’t make it to the 2022 edition of the tournament, are back in the mix. The ever-present spinning all-rounder, Aqib Ilyas Sulehri, will lead the West Asian nation. He has also been in fine form, having notched up a fifty in the recently concluded warm-up game versus Afghanistan. Mehran, another of those all-rounders, Zeeshan Maqsood and Kashyap Prajapati are some of the other players to look out for.
The plucky Namibian set-up won all their games in the African Qualifier to enter the mega event for the third time in a row. Ruben Trumpelmann, the left-arm pace bowler, David Wiese and Gerhard Erasmus, the two experienced all-rounders, will be looking to make an impression. Erasmus is also the captain of the side. Namibia will play Oman in their opening game on June 2.
Canada and one of the co-hosts, the United States of America, round-up the Associate teams in the World Cup. Both teams are placed along with India, Pakistan and Ireland in Group A. Recently, the USA made history by sealing their maiden series win against a full member nation by pipping Bangladesh 2-1 in a T20I rubber in Houston.
Harmeet Singh, the former India Under-19 left-arm spinner, Corey Anderson, the former New Zealand batting all-rounder, and Ali Khan, the speedster, played pivotal roles in that series win. Monank Patel, the wicket-keeper-bat, is the skipper.
On the other hand, Canada’s troops will be marshalled by Saad Bin Zafar. However, Canada’s campaign hasn’t exactly started on the right note, with Harsh Thaker, the former vice-captain, making allegations that the think-tank didn’t give him the necessary opportunity to demonstrate his fitness ahead of the World Cup.
Harsh had observed on Instagram, “After suffering from an injury on May 5th, I was referred to the Cricket Canada physio and team doctor, both of whom told me that while it is risky, it is possible for me to play the T20 World Cup in June. Recently the doctor also believes I have a good chance of playing the last two games. I was told to focus on my recovery and be ready for a fitness test on May 24th, one day before the team leaves for the World Cup. I did just that and my injury has improved dramatically.”