Batter Maurice Ouma and pace-man Nehemiah Odhiambo have been recalled to the national cricket team ahead of next week’s ICC World Cricket League match against hosts Papua New Guinea.
Ouma and Odhiambo are making a comeback into the squad after being left out of the team for the better part of last year. Obanda’s place has been taken over by Ouma, who could also double up as wicket keeper. Alex Obanda and Eugene Maneno were some of the casualties as the 15-man squad was unveiled for the crucial 2019 World Cup qualification campaign. Obanda and Maneno were part of the squad that played Namibia in their last WCL fixture in October. Maneno was equally left out after the inclusion of two seamers —Emmanuel Bundi and Odhiambo.
Rushab Patel, who was part of the hurriedly composed team that beat Namibia in their last ICC World Cricket League match in October, also retained his place in the team, alongside new blood Karan Kaul and Gurdeep Singh. Young opener Dhiren Gondaria also gained the selectors confidence and is likely to open the batting with Irfan Karim.
With the banning of James Ngoche from bowling by ICC over suspect bowling action and the unavailability of Hiren Varaiya, the selectors picked one specialist spinner Shem Obado for the tour. Obado could be assisted by Obuya and Patel in spin department. WCLC is an elite 50-over competition played between leading Associate and Affiliate members and is a pathway for participating teams to play in the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier in 2018 and subsequently have a chance to qualify for ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019.