By John kwoba
NAIROBI, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's best cricket player in decades Maurice Odumbe and Steve Tikolo might have played together for the national team, but they will be worst of enemies as they guide their teams in the weeklong regional East Africa ICC World T20 Africa B qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda.
The two teams meet Sunday and later Uganda and Kenya will continue their ICC World T20 Africa B qualifiers over the next week with a repeat fixture, as well as two games apiece against Rwanda and Tanzania.
Odumbe will be having his second match as head coach of Kenya team after he lost out to Zimbabwe last month while Tikolo, who has some experience under his belt, will be in charge of the Uganda team.
Host Rwanda and Tanzania are the two other teams in the competition, in which the best two teams will sail through to the Africa level.
During their best days on the cricket turf, Odumbe and Tikolo led Kenya to their maiden World Cup semifinals in South Africa back in 2004.
But a lot of water has gone down the bridge and today they lead their two teams in a bid to redeem their stakes in the sport.
"It is not about us coaches. But the chance for Kenya to progress through the qualification and restore its glory on the global scene. Tikolo is a good player and coach and we have a lot in common, but the competition has new parameters," said Odumbe.
Odumbe and Tikolo shared a number of memorable moments until when they were separated in 2005. Odumbe was banned by International Cricket Council (ICC) while Tikolo retired from the game.
Now Odumbe wants to prove Kenya is still the kings in the region. Odumbe took over from Thomas Odoyo after Kenya dropped down to Division Three of the World Cricket League early this year.
In 1992, Kenya was ranked 24th in the world. After 1996, the country was acknowledged as the greatest emerging cricket country in the world especially after it beat the mighty West Indies at the Cricket World Cup the same year.
In 2003, the national team reached the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup where India won by 91 runs.
But it has been a free fall for Kenya since as player contracts were not honored and poor administration crept in. However, Odumbe believes, the team has started a slow painful path up the ladder back to its glory days.
