National team players follow closely a past match in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will feature in the T20 East Africa Premier League starting next month in Nairobi. photo | file
What you need to know:
Organisers of the T20 East Africa Premier League have allowed every team to employ two professional players from any country in a move to make it competitive
Dar es Salaam. The national cricket team,Twigas, will open their T20 East Africa Premier League (EAPL) with a date against Kenya’s Sameer Simba on August 7 in Nairobi.
According to fixtures released by the orgnisers, Kenya Cricket Association, after the opener, the Tanzanian boys will lock horns with Flower Wings Ndovu a day later. And on August 9, Tanzania will go head-to-head against the Knights of Uganda at Nairobi Club grounds. “This is a perfect opportunity for us to show what we are capable of; our team is well prepared for the challenge and we hope that we will perform well,” said Kazim Nasser, an official with the Tanzania Cricket Association(TCA).
The EAPL will adhere to the Twenty20 format that was founded in 2011. The tournament has traditionally been comprising four Kenyan provincial franchises as well as two teams from Uganda that play each over in a league, culminating in a final between the team that finishes top of the log and the winner of a series of playoff matches.
However, the tournament will this time around feature two more national teams from Tanzania and Rwanda. The organisers of the event have also allowed every team to temporarily employ two professional players from any country in a move to make it competitive.
Tanzania has already invited two Indian players who will feature in the team. They are Siddhesh Lal and Swapnil Salvi.
Lal plays for Mumbai T20 team and Salvi features for Mumbai U23 team. The Tanzanian cricketers have already embarked on some arduous training at the Muhimbili Cricket Academy with a view to proving critics wrong at the Narobi event billed to be tough and exciting.
Nasser said the participation of the local cricketers in the regional tournament will help strengthen the team since Kenya and Uganda are placed among the top sides on the continent.
