Batting a concern for U19 coach
Khalil Rehemtullah put on his shin pads during a past match. Rehemtulla is now the head coach of the national Under-19 team. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- The 20-member provisional team, which was unveiled last week, is training at the Muhimbili Cricket Academy ground ahead of the ICC- Africa World Cup qualifiers.
- The qualifiers will be held at Benoni, South Africa from September 12 with Tanzania looking to salvage their pride, which has been in its lowest level over the past two editions.
Dar es Salaam. The national Under-19 cricket team coach, Khalil Rehemtullah, says batting is his team’s Achilles heel and that he faces a race against time to shape his batsmen.
The 20-member provisional team, which was unveiled last week, is training at the Muhimbili Cricket Academy ground ahead of the ICC- Africa World Cup qualifiers.
The qualifiers will be held at Benoni, South Africa from September 12 with Tanzania looking to salvage their pride, which has been in its lowest level over the past two editions.
“We are a race against time to improve the team in batting. This is the biggest weakness we have so far identified and with less than three weeks to go, we have to really work very hard,” said Rehemtullah who is also a regular player for the senior team. “We have lost our trial matches and it was down to poor batting skills. We hope they will improve in their next friendly.”
Rehemtullah added: “There is also the issue of confidence especially when they are trailing, but this can be sorted out after a few matches. Nonetheless, it’s my belief that they boys will be in top shape before the tournament starts.”
Tanzania will open their campaign with a match against Sierra Leone who have also managed to groom a fine crop of players.
“We are facing a tricky opener, so we have to be at our best. A good start will boost the confidence of the players, so the technical bench is doing all it can in the remaining days to shape them into a winning team,” he said.
Playing over the weekend at the Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club (DGC), the team slumped to a 21-run defeat at the hands of their hosts.
DGC won the toss and went to bat first to score 119 runs. The Under-19 team’s chase just ended in 98.
“We have several trial matches left, which are played weekly, so I hope that we will see improvement this weekend,” he added.
They earlier had lost twice to St. Gobain side.
After the opening match at Benoni, the Tanzanian boys will face Nigeria next.
Other countries featuring at the tournament are Zambia, Rwanda, Botswana and Ghana.
