Tikolo confident Kenyans would rise to fame in World Cup

Chennai, Feb 18 (PTI) Veteran Kenyan cricketer SteveTikolo today said most of his teammates are unknown entitiesin international cricket but exuded confidence that theyoungsters will become famous by giving a good account ofthemselves during the World Cup starting tomorrow.

Set to make his fifth World Cup appearance, the39-year-old all-rounder, who has played 129 ODIs, said theteam has prepared well for the event and is looking forward tothe opening match against New Zealand on Sunday here.

"The team is well-prepared. We are looking forward to thegame against New Zealand. Obviously, we have some youngstersin the team who have come up the ranks. They have caught up interms of their game level. We are here to compete and dowell," he told reporters ahead of the team''s practice sessionat the M A Chidambaram Stadium here.

The Kenyan team had a training camp in South Africa andspent two weeks in Ahmedabad and Dubai, where it defeatedAfghanistan and Ireland in practice games. The side later flewto Sri Lanka for it final warm-up match.

On the difference between the team in 2003, that upsetWest Indies on way to its only semifinal appearance, and now,Tikolo said lot of players who featured then had retired.

"Over the years our strength has been our batting but oflate our bowling has been doing well. Hopefully we can carryon with that," he added.

Tikolo declined to go into the lows of Kenyan cricketpost-2003 World Cup but said the side has turned it around inrecent past.

On the wicket here for the Sunday match, Tikolo said,"looks like it is going to be a good wicket to bat on."

Talking about the conditions in the sub-continent, hesaid if the conditions were harsh it would be same for boththe sides.

"We have prepared well enough having been in Dubai andIndia and now in Sri Lanka where the conditions are similar tothis. If the conditions are harsh it is going to be so forboth the teams," he explained. .