The Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) has revealed a 14-man Junior Yellow Greens squad for the 2028 ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier Division 2. The team will compete for a spot in the next stage of the qualification campaign in Rwanda.
The tournament will run from 9 to 15 August. Nigeria will face Uganda, Ghana, hosts Rwanda, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone. They aim to move up to Division 1 and keep their hopes alive for the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Rahmon Ali will captain the squad. He leads a young team selected through a nationwide exercise by the federation's technical crew.
The NCF said the final team was chosen after a tough three-phase screening process in Abuja and Lagos. Players were assessed based on their skills, discipline, attitude, and ability to perform under pressure.
The selection began with a training camp in Abuja, where top players from the National U-17 Championship were invited for evaluation. The second phase took place in Abuja as well. Here, coaches mixed emerging U-17 talents with more experienced players to see how they worked together.
The final stage happened in Lagos and was the toughest. The coaching crew narrowed down the players to the final 14 who will represent Nigeria at the continental qualifier.
Alongside captain Ali, the squad features Ismail Abdullahi, Andrew Abah, Precious Ayeni, Daniel Ayodele, Kenneth Boniface, and Princewill Chigozie.
The rest of the team includes Bright Edem, Peculiar Egemasi, Okasha Isiyaku, Emmanuel Oladejo, Hossana Omokhobhio, Pelumi Orimolade, and Folajimi Owolabi.
With preparations in full swing, the technical crew is working on creating a balanced squad. They want a team that can not only gain promotion but also compete strongly in the next qualification stage.
Head coach Daniel Gim mentioned that the team's goals go beyond just the Division 2 tournament.
"Our aim is to build a strong team with a good batting line-up that can compete beyond this qualification. The goal isn’t just to qualify from Division 2; we want to move through Division 1 and reach the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup," he said.
Nigeria will kick off their campaign against Uganda on Sunday, 9 August. A strong start is key in the push for promotion.
At the end of the tournament, the top three teams from the Division 2 qualifiers will advance to Division 1. They will then join Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania in the next phase of the qualification process as the race for spots at the 2028 ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup heats up.
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