By Xinhua
Nairobi : Kenya’s cricket officials unveiled a 14-man squad Thursday for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup match against Canada in Nairobi, but popped a surprise by excluding the promising 20-year-old Tanmay Mishra from the team.
According to a statement from Cricket Kenya (CK), eight players were selected from the local side Swamibapa, which has been rocked by internal problems in the past two months.
CK officials surprisingly left out Tanmay Mishra from the squad to face Canada. At 20, Mishra is one of the country’s most promising young players and his performances in the last year have been quite impressive.
The only other absentee from the squad that was humiliated in the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa recently is 23-year-old Rajesh Bhudia.
Into the squad comes 26-year-old seamer Alfred Luseno who has not been part of the national side since the tour of Zimbabwe in May.
The problems in Nairobi almost certainly caused the selectors some issues as Swamibapa, which provides the backbone to the side, have withdrawn from the NPCA Super League and so their players have not been in competitive action since returning from South Africa.
Squad: Kenya Steve Tikolo (captain), Jimmy Kamande, Alfred Luseno, Alex Obanda, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Thomas Odoyo, Peter Ongondo, Lameck Onyango, Elijah Otieno, Maurice Ouma (wicket-keeper), Tony Suji and Hiren Variaya.