Otieno revealed that there will be four debutants in the national team.
The national men’s cricket team head coach Francis Otieno is wary about the batting skills of the team ahead of the Victoria Twenty20 International series to be held at the Lugogo Stadium in Kampala, Uganda from April 18-23.
Otieno revealed that they have a relatively young team and they have not had enough time to practice due to the rainy weather conditions.
“Batting is our major area of concern…bowling and fielding are a bit challenging but manageable. We have a young team but we have not been able to train them effectively due to the poor weather conditions. We have four debutants in the national team,” Otieno told Pulse Sports.
The team is set to leave for Uganda on Saturday, April 15 evening ahead of the event that has also attracted the hosts, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Tanzania and Kenya will once again renew their rivalry once again. In June last year during the Kwibuka tournament in Rwanda, Tanzania floored Kenya in the group stage and final round by 38 runs and 44 runs respectively.
Otieno expressed confidence and revealed that they will try their best as a team to change the narrative this time round.
“I know they (Tanzania) have prepared well for this tournament and they are definetly planning to beat us again…we shall try our best to shine,” he said.
The inaugural edition of the Victoria series was played back in 2019 that featured hosts Uganda, Kenya, and eventually champions Zimbabwe.
Every team will play four games each, with the series set to be played in the round-robin method. Post the league games, the top two on the points table will directly advance to the final. Kenya will start their campaign with a match against the United Arab Emirates on the first day.