The Nigeria Cricket Federation has announced the final squad that will be flying her colors at the ICC T-20 World Cup Sub Regional Qualifier B’ in Rwanda later this month. 20 players had been invited to camp late last month and after 2 weeks of drills and a series of trial matches, the final 14 players has been named.
The team selected is a blend of youth and experience with familiar faces in the mix. Onwuzilike Chimezie returns to the team while the likes of Isaac Okpe, Onikoyi Ademola, Sesan Adedeji, Peter Aho, and Prosper Useni also makes the cut.
Young bowling prodigy and pace bowler, Udekwe Chiemelie and Leg Spin bowling sensation Joshua Asia will make their debut for the senior team after a successful spell with the U-19 during the ICC tournament in Abuja in October, joined by Akhere Isesele to complete the trio of debutants to wear the prestigious Yellow and Green colors for Nigeria.
Sylvester Okpe will lead the Yellow Greens as captain as they continue preparations for the event with a pre-tournament tour to Zimbabwe where they are expected to play senior franchise teams and other national set-ups. This tournament will also afford the new Head Coach and High Performance Manager of the Federation, Steve Tikolo an opportunity to see first-hand the team play in competitive mode.
FINAL 14 MAN LIST
1. SYLVESTER OKPE
2. ASHMIT SHRESTA
3. ADEDEJI SESAN
4. SULAIMON RENSEWE
5. CHIMEZIE ONWUZULIKE
6. ADEMOLA ONIKOYI
7. ISAAC OKPE
8. AKHERE ISESELE
9. PETER AHO
10. TAIWO MOHAMMED
11. RIDWAN KAREEM
12. JOSHUA ASIA
13. CHIEMELE UDEKWE
14. PROSPER USENI
The tournament which is expected to take place from the 28th of November to the 8th of December has Nigeria drawn in group B’ alongside Tanzania, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Eswatini, The Gambia and Cameroon, with top 2 teams schedule to progress for the next phase of qualification.
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