Nust player says Sri Lanka tourney improved his game

Sisa Sihwa
A NATIONAL University of Science and Technology cricket player, Bill Kwambana says he gained vital experience from the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals, in Sri Lanka which improved his game.

Kwambana (22), who is second year student at Nust studying Finance, said that even though his team did not perform well at the competition he was honoured playing cricket at such a level.

“Actually playing cricket with that sort of challenge and the remarkable talent that is out there in the world was an enormous experience for me,” he said.

Kwambana revealed that the experience from the tournament helped in exposing him and other students who participated in that event to different physical and skills as executed by other teams.

“Getting exposed to different conditions, facing opponents from other places with differing strategies and formats of playing made me identify the areas l need to work on and perfect, so that l can be competitive enough to rise through rankings and be able to play in foreign leagues,” he said.

When asked about how he how he manages balancing his school work and sporting career he stated that his career in academics is still a priority to him.

“Cricket has always been my passion, so l find time after my match practices to study because l believe my academic studies are still very crucial to me and striking a balancing between the two is not a difficult thing to achieve if you know what you want,” he added.

The chairperson of the Nust Cricket team Lysias Charumbira, who was the head of the delegation to Sri Lanka was impressed with Kwambana, who displayed a spirited performance at the tournament.

“Our batsmen Kwambana was the only single player in our team who managed to score 48 runs in the match against United Arab Emirates, playing with teams that had professional players from their national sides,” he said.

Charumbira also indicated that his cricket team immensely gained from exposure from such a tournament.

“The tournament was an eye opener because it exposed the team to tactics used at the highest level especially the length of deliveries and efficiency in both fielding and bowling. Another significant lesson for the team was adapting to pitch and weather conditions and grounding tactics to what to are strong at,’’ he stated.