RWANDA national senior men’s cricket team has been urged to ‘be confident and strive for victory’ when the country hosts the ICC World T20 Africa ‘B’ Qualifiers next week at Gahanga Cricket Stadium – from July 7 to 15 in Kigali.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Patrick Nyamvumba, called on the players to believe in themselves and be focused, during his visit to the national team's training camp on Thursday evening at Olympic Hotel in Kimironko.

The visit was aimed at boosting the morale of players ahead of the one-week tournament.

"On top of having the physical strength, you also need to be mentality strong. This will help you overcome every challenge at hand," Gen. Nyamvumba told players.

"The purpose of being here is to win. Strive for victory".

The Rwanda Defence Force Chief further cautioned the boys that, "You need self-awareness and know your opponent as well. This gives you an opportunity to know where you are going to exert your strength and how you are going to exploit the opponent's weakness."

The four-nation regional cricket showdown will feature men's national cricket teams from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and the hosts Rwanda.

According to Rwanda Cricket Association, the teams will start arriving in the country on July 5, a day before the tournament’s opening ceremony – on July 6.

Rwanda starts her quest during the week-long tournament, facing Tanzania on July 7 before taking on Kenya the following day and Uganda on July 10.

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