Dinesh Nakrani (born 21 September 1991) is an Indian-born

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who represents the

Uganda cricket team The Uganda national cricket team, nicknamed the Cricket Cranes, is the men's team that represents Uganda in international cricket. The team is organised by the Uganda Cricket Association, which has been an associate member of the Internationa ...

. He is an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm medium pace. He made his international debut for Uganda in 2018, having previously played for Saurashtra in Indian domestic cricket.

Career in India

Nakrani was born on 21 September 1991 in Kutch district,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India. He made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

debut for Saurashtra against

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in India on 31 March 2014.

Career in Uganda

Nakrani moved to Uganda in 2016 to work for the Keshwala Group, whose owner Ranmal Keshwala was a trustee of the

Uganda Cricket Association Uganda Cricket Association controls and organises all tours and matches undertaken by the Uganda national cricket team and Uganda women's national cricket team. It is the Sport governing body, governing body for the sport of cricket in Uganda. Its ...

. He began playing tape-ball cricket in local leagues soon after his arrival. In July 2018, he was part of Uganda's squad in the Eastern sub-region group for the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Africa Qualifier tournament. He was the leading run-scorer for Uganda in their opening match, against

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, making 88

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

. In the same match, he also made an unbeaten partnership of 167 runs for the fourth wicket, with

Riazat Ali Shah Riazat Ali Shah (born 20 February 1998) is a Pakistani-born Ugandan cricketer who plays for the Uganda national cricket team. He is an all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. Early life Shah was born on 20 February 199 ...

. In the final match of the Eastern sub-region group, also against Kenya, Nakrani scored 102 not out, and was named the man of the match. He also finished as the leading run-scorer in the qualifying group, with 320 runs in six matches. In September 2018, he was named in Uganda's squad for the

2018 Africa T20 Cup The 2018 Africa T20 Cup was the fourth and final edition of the Africa T20 Cup, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. It was held in South Africa in September 2018, as a curtain-raiser to the 2018–19 South African domestic season. Provincial side Kwa ...

. He was the leading run-scorer for Uganda in the tournament, with 84 runs in four matches. The following month, he was named in Uganda's squad for the

2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Three The 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Three was an international cricket tournament that took place in Oman between 9 and 19 November 2018. It formed part of the 2017–19 cycle of the World Cricket League (WCL) which determines the qualif ...

tournament in Oman. Ahead of the tournament, he was named as the player to watch in Uganda's squad. In May 2019, he was named in Uganda's squad for the

Regional Finals In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of the

2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier The 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier was the tournament played as part of qualification process for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. Twelve regional qualifiers were held by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with 62 teamsZambia were ...

tournament in Uganda. He made his

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) debut against

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

on 20 May 2019. In July 2019, he was one of twenty-five players named in the Ugandan training squad, ahead of the Cricket World Cup Challenge League fixtures in Oman. In November 2019, he was named in Uganda's squad for the Cricket World Cup Challenge League B tournament in Oman. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut against

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

, on 2 December 2019. In October 2021, Nakrani was named in Uganda's T20I squad for the Group A matches of the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was played as part of qualification process for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, during October and November 2021. In April 2018, the International Cricket Council ( ...

tournament in Rwanda. On 19 October 2021, in the match against

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

, Nakrani took his first five-wicket haul in T20Is, and equaled the record for the best bowling figures in a T20I match, with six wickets for seven runs. On 22 October 2021, in the final Group A match of the qualifier, against the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

, Nakrani took his second five-wicket haul in T20Is. He also became the first bowler for Uganda to take a hat-trick in a T20I match. In November 2021, he was named in Uganda's squad for the Regional Final of the

tournament in Rwanda. In May 2022, he was named in Uganda's side for the

2022 Uganda Cricket World Cup Challenge League B The 2022 Uganda Cricket World Cup Challenge League B was the second round of matches in Group B of the 2019–2022 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League, a cricket tournament which formed part of the qualification pathway to the 2023 Cricket ...

tournament.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakrani, Dinesh 1991 births Living people Indian cricketers Ugandan cricketers Uganda Twenty20 International cricketers Saurashtra cricketers Sportspeople from Rajkot Indian emigrants to Uganda Twenty20 International hat-trick takers Cricketers at the 2023 African Games African Games medalists in cricket African Games bronze medalists for Uganda