Riazat Ali Shah is an Ismaili who was born in Gilgit Pakistan and now plays for the Uganda National Cricket Team. Playing as an energetic right-handed batsman, he was selected as Uganda’s squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division four in Malaysia.
Following a top-two result in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier, Uganda has purchased tickets for the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the USA.
“Playing for Uganda in the T20 World Cup is an honor for me,” Riazat Ali Shah declared. He then on, “I hope my team, Uganda, is put in the same group as India and Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.” He said, “I want to play against Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.”
When questioned, Riazat Ali Shah revealed which batting and bowling role models he looked up to.
Notably, since Uganda will only be the fifth African country to compete in the T20 World Cup, this will be their first-ever appearance in an ICC World Cup tournament. Uganda defeated Tanzania easily in their opening match in the T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifiers, winning by eight wickets.
But Namibian all-rounder David Wiese’s outstanding 4/17 in the subsequent match condemned them to a six-wicket loss.
In the subsequent match, the African team triumphed spectacularly, defeating Zimbabwe, who were playing a Test match, by a margin of five wickets.While captain Sikandar Raza’s 48* was the highlight of his team’s performance, Uganda’s bowling attack, spearheaded by Dinesh Nakrani (3/14), held the Chevrons to 136/7.
Both Alpesh Ramjani (40) and Riazat Ali Shah (42) led the Cricket Cranes during the chase. They pulled off a huge upset in cricket by winning with five wickets remaining. With this effort behind them, the team easily defeated Nigeria. They then defeated Kenya by 33 runs to secure a spot in the T20 World Cup.
They easily defeated Rwanda by nine wickets to guarantee the same. With outstanding bowling, they knocked Rwanda out for just 65 runs.
