“I’m lost for words to say how monumental it is,” exclaims Dr. Balakrishnan Sreekumar. The Chairman of Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA) is describing the pride he felt watching the U19 men’s team make history, by becoming the first national cricket team to achieve World Cup qualification in any format. The U19 boys also became the second ever national team in any sport to qualify for a World Cup, after the U17 Women’s Football team had qualified for the FIFA Women’s U17 World Cup in 2022.
“Look, the most popular sport here, like rest of Africa, is football. And unfortunately, there is a pervasive feeling in Tanzania that cricket is only played by rich Indians. However, if you look at our World Cup squad, except for three Indian heritage players, our entire squad is made up of ethnic Tanzanians. For us, this has been the biggest positive as far as we are concerned,” he opines.
However, the Chairman is not content to rest on his laurels and wants to see the senior men and women also achieve World Cup qualification. “We have two more World Cup qualifiers happening this year. Our senior men are playing for a World Cup spot. So too our women. We are grounded but it will be a real dream come true for us to see at least one more team qualify this year.”
Background
Dr. Sreekumar himself is a former domestic cricketer, who represented YMCA club in Mumbai until 1988. “I even made the Ranji Trophy probables squad, but back then, there was no money attached to cricket. So, I had to take a hard decision of leaving the sport and focusing on my accounting career.”
Sreekumar ended up migrating to Tanzania in 1990, became qualified as a chartered accountant eight years later and started his own business. “My love for the game was still alive. I resumed my club cricket career and felt a strong desire to somehow contribute to the growth of Tanzanian cricket.” He assumed the position of TCA Chairman in 2023 and is loving the role so far.
“I’ve a great team around me. Plus, just completed my 35th year of residence in Tanzania. I have some relatives in India and I occasionally travel there. But my kids grew up here, they love this place. So, this has become our home away from home,” he smiles.
Journey to the World Cup
The U19 team had to navigate a bevy of challenges en route to their fairytale World Cup qualification. Starting out in Division 2, the boys achieved five straight victories over Nigeria, Ghana and Mozambique in the group stages, before defeating Rwanda and Sierra Leone in the semi-final and finals respectively.
Remarkably, they were able to maintain their unbeaten streak through the Division 1 qualifiers as well, overcoming Uganda and Namibia, as well as Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone to clinch the sole qualification spot for the 16 team World Cup. It made Tanzania the 32nd team to qualify for the U19 event, as well as the latest debutant since Japan and Nigeria in the 2020 edition.
“The U19 kids are feeling thrilled, they are relishing the chance to possibly play the likes of India, Australia, West Indies, England and South Africa. Back home, the qualification story has gone viral. This is exactly the kind of cultural buy in we wanted,” states Dr. Sreekumar.
Upon their return home, the players received a raucous response at the airport with their parents, dancers and dhol players forming a welcoming committee. “There were some very emotional scenes with proud parents hugging each other and their sons. Many of these parents, they come from such rural areas, they’ve never seen an airport. I am sure that everyone will cherish these memories for the rest of their lives,” says Sreekumar.
He also lauds the interest that government officials have shown towards the sport recently. “I had a productive discussion with the sports minister. He’s new to cricket and trying to understand the sport, but he’s extremely excited about Tanzania’s participation at the World Cup and has promised to provide the required support. President Samia Suluhu Hassan has also declared that the team will be called to the state house to have a one-to-one meeting with her.”
Captain Laksh Bakrania leading from the front
Central to the team’s success has been captain Laksh Bakrania. The precociously talented 17-year-old was the top scorer at the qualifier, scoring 208 runs @ 41.6. He also took 8 wickets at a phenomenal average of 7.75 and an economy rate of 1.88.
“I’ve known Laksh very well from the age of eight. For me, watching him grow through our development programs from a promising kid to an outstanding national cricketer has been an emotional rollercoaster,” says TCA Operations Manager Atif Salim.
Bakrania first caught global attention in 2021, when the then 14-year-old spun a web around favourites Namibia during the 2022 U19 World Cup qualifiers, claiming 5/28 from 9.3 overs to help defeat the opposition by 48 runs. While Tanzania eventually missed out on qualifying after a narrow loss to Uganda, Salim states that Bakrania showed the world “what he was capable of.”
The youngster made his senior debut last year and according to Salim has “really matured as a player and leader. The way he leads on and off the field, the way he motivates the rest of the boys, he’s played an integral part in our qualification.”
Chairman Sreekumar also highlights the importance of Bakrania’s batting contributions to the team’s success. “His main strength is in bowling, but if you look at almost all the five games, Laksh went into bat at No. 4 after we had lost two early wickets. And on each occasion, he has stabilised the innings. He has remained calm and waited patiently for the loose deliveries; I see traces of MS Dhoni in him.”
Fast bowler Khalidy Amiri Juma, allrounders Augustino Meya Mwamele and Mohamedi Simba Mbaki and wicketkeeper batter Acrey Hugo Pascal are the other talents to watch out for, according to Sreekumar. “80% of these boys are going to make it to the senior national team, for sure. Khalidy is a genuine pacer, full of energy and totally fearless. He just finished a high-performance training camp in India in December and he is a genuine asset for the future”.
Participation
During the last interview with Emerging Cricket in 2022, Salim had put the domestic participation numbers at around 40,000. Based on last year’s reports, this has now grown to 73,300. “We’ve seen a steady growth of around 5% percent each year, which is a great sign. The big driver has been our involvement programs delivered via Criio cricket festivals,” he says.
An ICC initiative, Criio is designed to make cricket more accessible and inclusive. Played with a soft ball and minimal equipment, it allows cricket novices to pick up the sport easily. Salim states that TCA is using Criio to introduce cricket into schools, communities and even in rural areas where the sport wasn’t traditionally played.
“The best part is that it’s not just about getting a bat and a ball in hand. It’s about creating that fun environment where anyone can fall in love with the game. It creates a pathway from casual participation to structured cricket and it has been a stepping stone for many of our U19 players. For us, the main focus is on building a strong foundation which would make it easier to grow participation even more in future.”
Cricket Academy and New Grounds
Aside from Criio, TCA have initiated ambitious plans to establish cricket academies around the nation. Each academy will have capacity to cater to 50 students, half male and half female, where they will receive training from 3 pm to 6 pm. While the weekends will be dedicated to organising games. “The idea is to have all the academies come together every three months to play amongst themselves. It will make talent identification and scouting a much smoother process,” says the Chairman.
“We take care of all their school needs, so it makes the parents happy. Everything is sponsored by TCA. If we can get a thousand kids to participate yearly, it creates healthy competition for selection to the U19 teams.”
Another consequential breakthrough has been the introduction of cricket into the national interschools sports competition, which Salim stresses is a very important development. “Thanks to our government, cricket will officially be part of the school sports curriculum. It means that now more schools will be playing and more teachers will be involved.”
On the infrastructure front, TCA have also made considerable progress. Two brand new cricket grounds are scheduled to start construction shortly, in the capital city of Dar Es Salaam. “We have been in discussion with the University of Dar Es Salaam for a while. They have kindly agreed to give us sufficient land to construct two more cricket grounds. Once the grounds are finished, we will become the first African country to have three cricketing grounds at the same venue,” declares Sreekumar.
Future Goals
Coming back to the topic of the 2026 U19 World Cup, the Chairman states that he wants the team to enjoy the special experience. “We are giving them a break of three weeks before they come back and start seriously training again. There is a lot of hard work that needs to be done, so the focus needs to be there. We want to be competitive against these Test playing nations.”
As for long-term future goals, Sreekumar is keen to boost the numbers of ICC certified umpires and bring about increased professionalism domestically.
“We want cricket to be a full-time profession for our national players. Currently, we have twenty women and fourteen men cricketers on contract. We have also decided to contract all the U19 boys too. Tanzania is a developing nation, so financial security is extremely important for these players,” he states.
“We will be pushing ICC to support us, not only in terms of financial support but also in terms of technical support. We want Tanzania to be one of the leading Associate sides in cricket and crack the T20I top 15 rankings for both the men’s and women’s senior teams.”
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