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A Deputy Director with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Maria Whophil on Tuesday unveiled Asanka Gurusinha as the new Head Coach of Cricket for Nigeria at the Media Center of the Moshood Abiola Stadium.
The Sri Lankan coach who was appointed after scaling through an interview attended by 32 high profile coaches said that the interview session was the most rigorous he has experience in his coaching career.
He said, “I am very excited to take up this job and I am really looking forward to the best we can achieve with the level of enthusiasm, talent, and support that the Nigerian Cricket Federation has.”
Whophil, who was representing the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, said the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development is full of commendations for the board of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, sighting their vision and dedication to duty since they were sworn in.
“Since a little over three years that this board came into office, we have seen their passion and vision to grow the game, especially their interest in grassroots development. This tallies with the direction of the Ministry and we have been giving them the support, they need.
“The unveiling of Asanka Gurusinha today was a tedious process, and we are glad that it came through. I want to implore all stakeholders especially sponsors, partners, and supporters of the game of Cricket to rally behind the board and Asanka to make sure we make a success of this process.” She said.
President of the Federation, Professor Yahaya Ukwenya, said the hiring of Gurusinha was very deliberate and is a key agenda of their five strategic imperatives.
He said, “We have been; promoting the game at all levels, upgrading Infrastructures, engaging strategic partnership, improving the quality of players and officials and maintaining appropriate governance and finance structures as our key goals for this administration.
“The hiring of the Head Coach is paramount to achieving at least two of those. We have five facilities that we are also upgrading side-by-side to international standard including the one that would be used for the National Sports Festival in Benin” he said.
Ukwenya said all the achievements both off and on the field of play is expected to rise on the heels of the expertise and professionalism that the new Head Coach Gurusinha would bring to Nigerian Cricket.
Asanka Gurusinha’s immediate assignment would be to coordinate close camping for the top 36 players in the country who are already in Abuja.
The Nigerian team’s pedigree has been on the constant rise in the global Cricket Community because of the improved performance of the country in the game.
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.