THE six captains participating in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division Seven (WCL Div.7) tournament spoke of their excitement at the weekend ahead of the start of the event in Gaborone, Botswana, yesterday.Teams from Kuwait, Nigeria, Norway, Germany, Japan and host, Botswana, have converged in the city for the tournament that began yesterday and runs till coming Sunday. Kuwaits captain, Hisham Mirza, whose side will face Botswana first, said: There is a pressure coming into this tournament as the champions of Division 8 and we have to maintain that standard and quality of play that got us into this division.Its hard, as this is a new country, a new place, new weather and new conditions, so weve worked hard for it but there is pressure coming into this tournament. Well play each game as it goes and take it from there. We have been preparing hard, we have heard Botswana are a good side and we have to give our best and hopefully if we win that match, well be on a good start.Botswanas captain, Akram Chand, commented on the same first fixture, saying: We find it a privilege to be hosting this tournament, its the first time for Botswana to host an international tournament like this, which is great. Weve had good preparation ahead of the event with camps in Zimbabwe and South Africa.Its really nice to see the teams have come so far to Botswana and were really looking forward to the whole tournament. We were relegated in 2009 from Singapore, we had a few key players missing back then but we hope to rectify that and thats why weve prepared harder and wed like to get to where we come from.Weve prepared well enough and our final is playing Kuwait first up and once weve finished that, well look further into the tournament, taking each game as it comes. We just wish for good cricket to be played.For the Nigeria captain, Endurance Ofem, it was all about which side he was going to play first as the one to prove the biggest challenge to his men. He said: We play Norway first up, so I think theyll be our biggest challenge to begin with for this event. We know our team is not particularly big in stature but, ask Sachin Tendulkar, its not always about the height of the player but about good batting and bowling.We have to respect all the teams here. Botswana weve played twice and know their cricket, weve played Japan twice, which were close games, and I think Norway will be an unknown entity to us but we must respect them as they have come down from Division Six and are a good side to have been in that division in the first place.Meanwhile, Norways captain Damien Shortis noted: If I had to pick I would say Germany will be our toughest competition. Weve played them a few times and lost each time in the last few competitions and weve had very tight games with them and were both from Europe, so Id like another tight, good game against them.However, Asif Khan of Germany said: I wont single out one captain or his side that will be the toughestbut weve a score to settle with Kuwait after WCL Div. 8 while Norway are a very competitive, good side. Wed like to continue the tradition of beating them but each team will provide its own challenge.And Japans captain Masaomi Kobayashi would not be tied down to naming one team as providing the biggest challenge though: I think all the teams will provide us with a challenge so we need to do the best with every game we play to the best of our abilities no matter what, he concluded.
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