August 31, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Tanzania national Under-19 cricket team coach Khalil Rehemtullah is wary about the threat playing against Sierra Leone in their opening match of the ICC- Africa World Cup qualifiers.
Sierra Leone and Tanzania will start their campaign on 10 September at Oval One in Benoni, South Africa, but Coach Rehemtullah wants his boys to be at their best in order to get a good start in the tournament.
“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 told The Citizen, a Tanzania based newspaper.
With barley 10 days to go, Rehemtullah has already identified batting as is his team’s difficult task and that he faces a race against time to shape his batsmen.
He further stated that: “We are racing against time to improve the team in batting. This is the biggest weakness we have so far identified and we have to really work very hard.”
The Tanzania team has lost several local trial matches due to poor batting skills and Rehemtullah, who is also a senior national team player, said there is also an issue of confidence especially when they are trailing an opponent.
Already a 20-man provisional squad has been unveiled as the team continues their training session at the Muhimbili Cricket Academy ground ahead of the tournament.