Yellow Greens captain upbeat ahead W’Cup qualifiers

Nigeria’s male senior cricket team captain, Sylvester Okpe, has said the just concluded ILT20 Continent Cup in Kigali, Rwanda, has helped the team improve in different aspects of their game ahead of the final phase of the 2026 T20 World Cup qualifiers which will be played next year.

Nigeria finished second at the four-nation tournament after a six-wicket defeat to Uganda in the final of what would be their last outing in 2024.

Despite the result, Okpe believes the tournament has shown the team different areas of improvement ahead of subsequent tournaments in 2025, particularly the final phase of the qualifiers.

“The tournament in Rwanda has really helped us as a team. The guys have been able to see a lot of impacts in their game, being more confident and more expressive which are something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” Okpe said.

“So, in terms of thinking more and applying their games, it has been very impressive.”

Nigeria started the competition brightly with two wins against hosts Rwanda and Botswana, but lost five consecutive games before bouncing back for a place in the final.

“Generally, our performances with the bat and the ball as well as fielding have been impressive. Although we lost a number of games, it helped us as a team to assess where we had issues and be able to come back stronger.

The guys have been more fearless with their batting and the bowling has been more tactical.

“So, I feel the next line of action is for us to play more competitive cricket against quality teams which will help our game improve and be able to play well in subsequent tournaments.”

Nigeria’s biggest test in 2025 will be to qualify for the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

The Yellow Greens came tops in the Sub-Regional Qualifier C and will go up against seven other countries (Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Malawi, Tanzania, Namibia and Zimbabwe) for a spot at the World Cup.