Pushkar Sharma gets a National team call-up for the ICC African Qualifiers

Flying wings for Pushkar Sharma as he stares ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier debut for Kenya

Author name: Arijit Kundu

Kenya's left-handed top-order batter, Pushkar Sharma has been called up into the Kenya Men's national setup for a fresh start heading to the ICC Men's T20 Sub regional Africa A Qualifiers starting next week. It s a buildup to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.

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The 2022 edition of the Glitterati event is still on song, and will see Pakistan square off against England on Nov 13, 2022.

Pushkar who has been a promising batter for Kenya had left India in 2019 a year after his father's demise due to cancer.

Pushkar has had his own struggles, flying to new city, rebuilding his cricket career and finding a new home in the African nation.

He is a player of the Ruaraka Sports Club, Nairobi and has been a consistent performer at the top of the order. The southpaw also starred in the country's first ever T20 league, Pro-20 Cup. few weeks ago In Npca where he smashed 173 runs in a match.

Obuya said even though they have not had enough time to train, he expects his top order batsmen to be on top of their game, having boosted that department with the inclusion of Ruaraka Sports Club’s Pushkar Sharma. “The top order batting challenge has been addressed in the sense that we now have new boys coming into the team. We have Pushkar Sharma who will be taking the role of the opening batsman and we have the experienced Collins Obuya who will be partnering him,”

Post selection, Pushkar cited,"I'm really happy for this selection. I would like to thank my family, god and especially Mansukh Hirani who always supported me in Kenya."

The national team has seen a few major changes which also included a fresh face in the leadership department, with Sachin Bhudia doning the responsibility hat. The team will be traveling to Kigali, Rwanda for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa A Qualifier.

Bhudia will be replacing former captain Shem Ngoche as skipper and Lucas Oluoch of Nairobi Gymkhana has been named as the vice-captain of the side.

The event is the precursor to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2024 and is set to take place in Kigali, Rwanda from November 15–26, 2022, in a round-robin format.

The top two teams from the competition will compete against Namibia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe in the regional final, together with the champion and runner-up of the Africa Sub Regional Qualifier B competition (1st–9th December).

The World Cup, which will be held by the West Indies and the United States, will be attended by the top two teams from the Regional competition.

The squad has been training at the Nairobi Gymkhana for the past two weeks in preparation for the challenge at hand we hope to see them in flying colours.

Squad:

1. Rushabh Patel (Swamibapa Sports Club)

2. Pushkar Sharma (Ruaraka Sports Club),

3. Irfan Karim (Aziz Damani Cricket Club in Uganda)

4. Collins Obuya (Obuya Cricket Academy)

5. Rakep Patel (Kanbis Sports Club)

6. Sukhdeep Singh (Sikh Union Sports Club)

7. Sachin Bhudia (Kanbis Sports Club)

8. Nelson Odhiambo (Kanbis Sports Club)

9. Tanzeel Sheikh (Stray Lions Cricket Club)

10. Lucas Oluoch (Nairobi Gymkhana)

11. Shem Ngoche (Stray Lions Cricket Club)

12. Emmanuel Bundi (Kanbis Sports Club)

13. Peter Koech (Swamibapa Sports Club)

14. Vraj Patel (Stray Lions Cricket Club)

Technical bench

1. David Obuya (Head coach)

2. Moses Muturi (Physiotherapist/Team manager)

Reserves

1. Eugene Ochieng (Sir Ali Muslim Sports Club)

2. Vishil Patel (Ruaraka Sports Club)