Captain Brian Masaba of Uganda responds to his country’s first World Cup campaign, saying, “Done wonders for us back home, laid a platform.”

Most notably, Uganda qualified against all odds after an arduous route to the T20 World Cup in 2024. Although Zimbabwe was the frontrunner to advance, the team captained by Brian Masaba surprised everyone in the qualifying round and advanced to the world event. Despite numerous moments of humiliation, they defeated Papua New Guinea on June 6 in Guyana to win their first World Cup.

Masaba wasn’t very unhappy despite New Zealand’s dominance over a weakened Uganda in their league finale. He said that it would give all the players a lot of confidence to improve and praised New Zealand and the other nations for sharing their experience with a developing cricketing nation. The 32-year-old continued by saying that they have enjoyed competing at the greatest level and that they hope the campaign would motivate young cricket players in Uganda.

Playing at this level has been an amazing experience. a setting that demands top performance in this competition. It has created a foundation for us back home and worked miracles. I have made an effort to engage with the players and solicit their opinions. We have been eager to see what comes next and how it would advance our progress.

Also read: New Zealand wins handily, defeating Uganda 40

To all the teams, I must express my gratitude; they have been willing to share their knowledge and have made every effort to support us. Brian Masaba remarked during the post-match award ceremony, “It’s been good to see the boys on the pitch; the young fast bowlers have inspired guys back home.”

The players’ humble upbringing was highlighted by the captain, who also expressed gratitude to the local West Indies supporters for their support during the competition.

They have a modest upbringing, therefore it has been a humbling experience for me. Here, we love them back, and they adore us. Extremely pleased with how accepting the WI audience has been of our team, Brian Masaba said.

In the T20 World Cup matchup with New Zealand, Uganda had the second-lowest total. The team captained by Kane Williamson scored 40 runs in the opening over, which was quickly erased in 5.2 overs.