The six captains participating in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 7 (WCL Div. 7) tournament spoke of their excitement yesterday ahead of the start of the event in Gaborone, Botswana today.
Teams from Kuwait, Nigeria, Norway, Germany, Japan and hosts Botswana have converged on the city for the tournament that begins this morning and runs through to 8 May.
Kuwait captain Hisham Mirza, whose side will face Botswana first said: “There is a pressure coming into this tournament as the champions of Division 8 and we have to maintain that standard and quality of play that got us into this division. It’s hard as this is a new country, a new place, new weather and new conditions so we’ve worked hard for it but there is a pressure coming into this tournament. We’ll play each game as it goes and take it from there.
"We have been preparing hard, we have heard Botswana are a good side and we have to give our best and hopefully if we win that match we’ll be on a good start."
Botswana captain Akram Chand commented on the same first fixture: "We find it a privilege to be hosting this tournament, it’s the first time for Botswana to host an international tournament like this which is great. We’ve had good preparation ahead of the event with camps in Zimbabwe and South Africa. It’s really nice to see the teams have come so far to Botswana and we’re really looking forward to the whole tournament.
"We were relegated in 2009 from Singapore, we had a few key players missing back then but we hope to rectify that and that’s why we’ve prepared harder and we’d like to get to where we come from. We’ve prepared well enough and our final is playing Kuwait first up and once we’ve finished that we’ll look further into the tournament taking each game as it comes. We just wish for good cricket to be played."
For Endurance Ofem the Nigeria captain it was all about which side he was going to playing first as the one that was going to prove the biggest challenge to his men. "We play Norway first up so I think they’ll be our biggest challenge to begin with for this event. We know our team is not particularly big in stature, but ask Sachin Tendulkar it's not always about the height of the player but about good batting and bowling.
"We have to respect all the teams here, Botswana we've played twice and know their cricket, we've played Japan twice which were close games and think Norway will be an unknown entity to us but we must respect them as they have come down from Division 6 and are a good side to have been in that division in the first place."
"If I had to pick I would say Germany will be our toughest competition," said Norway captain Damien Shortis. "We've played them a few times and lost each time in the last few competitions and we've had very tight games with them and we're both from Europe so I'd like another tight, good game against them."
"I won't single out one captain or his side that will be the toughest – but, we've a score to settle with Kuwait after WCL Div. 8 while Norway are a very competitive, good side but we'd like to continue the tradition of beating them but each team will provide its own challenge," said Asif Khan from Germany.
Japan's captain Masaomi Kobayashi wouldn't be tied down to naming one team as providing the biggest challenge though: "I think all the teams will provide us with a challenge so we need to do the best with every game we play to the best of our abilities no matter what."
Teams from Kuwait, Nigeria, Norway, Germany, Japan and hosts Botswana have converged on the city for the tournament that begins this morning and runs through to 8 May.
Kuwait captain Hisham Mirza, whose side will face Botswana first said: “There is a pressure coming into this tournament as the champions of Division 8 and we have to maintain that standard and quality of play that got us into this division. It’s hard as this is a new country, a new place, new weather and new conditions so we’ve worked hard for it but there is a pressure coming into this tournament. We’ll play each game as it goes and take it from there.
"We have been preparing hard, we have heard Botswana are a good side and we have to give our best and hopefully if we win that match we’ll be on a good start."
Botswana captain Akram Chand commented on the same first fixture: "We find it a privilege to be hosting this tournament, it’s the first time for Botswana to host an international tournament like this which is great. We’ve had good preparation ahead of the event with camps in Zimbabwe and South Africa. It’s really nice to see the teams have come so far to Botswana and we’re really looking forward to the whole tournament.
"We were relegated in 2009 from Singapore, we had a few key players missing back then but we hope to rectify that and that’s why we’ve prepared harder and we’d like to get to where we come from. We’ve prepared well enough and our final is playing Kuwait first up and once we’ve finished that we’ll look further into the tournament taking each game as it comes. We just wish for good cricket to be played."
For Endurance Ofem the Nigeria captain it was all about which side he was going to playing first as the one that was going to prove the biggest challenge to his men. "We play Norway first up so I think they’ll be our biggest challenge to begin with for this event. We know our team is not particularly big in stature, but ask Sachin Tendulkar it's not always about the height of the player but about good batting and bowling.
"We have to respect all the teams here, Botswana we've played twice and know their cricket, we've played Japan twice which were close games and think Norway will be an unknown entity to us but we must respect them as they have come down from Division 6 and are a good side to have been in that division in the first place."
"If I had to pick I would say Germany will be our toughest competition," said Norway captain Damien Shortis. "We've played them a few times and lost each time in the last few competitions and we've had very tight games with them and we're both from Europe so I'd like another tight, good game against them."
"I won't single out one captain or his side that will be the toughest – but, we've a score to settle with Kuwait after WCL Div. 8 while Norway are a very competitive, good side but we'd like to continue the tradition of beating them but each team will provide its own challenge," said Asif Khan from Germany.
Japan's captain Masaomi Kobayashi wouldn't be tied down to naming one team as providing the biggest challenge though: "I think all the teams will provide us with a challenge so we need to do the best with every game we play to the best of our abilities no matter what."
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