Bangladesh: Odumbe, Tikolo in town (10 December 1998)

10 December 1998

Bangladesh: Odumbe, Tikolo in town

Our Sports Reporter

Star Kenyan batsmen Maurice Omondi Odumbe and Stephen Ogonji Tikolo arrived in the city yesterday to play for Mohammedan Sporting Club in the Janakantha Premier Division cricket league.

The duo is scheduled to make their Dhaka league debut this morning when the popular Motijheel outfit takes on Wari Club in their first outing of the season at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP) ground.

Odumbe and Tikolo practised with their team-mates at the Bangabandhu National Sta-dium in the afternoon before completing their registration formalities at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) office.

Odumbe,30, a solid right handed middle order batsman and an useful off spinner, plays for Soweto in the South African Provincial cricket. An athletic fielider, Odumbe led the Kenyan national team to Bangladesh a few year back for a series of exhibition matches. He also led Kenya in the 1996 World Cup held in the sub-continent. Odumbe was visibly excited about the prospect of representing one of the traditional giants of local cricket.

"We are here to win the league for Mohammedan. I've seen the boys in practice today and I think they are quite good," said Odumbe while talking to a host of reporters after the practice session yesterday.

Tikolo,28, appeared more concerned about the wickets here. The powerful right hander, who also bowls medium pacers, however, expressed his confidence to get as many runs as possible.

"Last time we played here, the wicket was not good. The ball kept very low. We don't want to sweep all the way this time," said Tikolo, who won the man-of-the-series in the three-nation Cola-Cola Cup held in India last May.

Tikolo plays his professional cricket for Border province in South Africa.

"I've played 20 first class matches so far. But you know, like Bangladesh, exposure in Kenya is very hard. We have only played 20 ODIs. So, we have decided to come here to get more experience," Tikolo said.

The Kenyan stars will stay here till the completion of the league, likely to be concluded in the first week of February.

Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)