The Tanzania national cricket team is the men's team that represents Tanzania in international cricket. Cricket has been played in what is now Tanzania since 1890, and the national side first played in 1951.Encyclopedia of World Cricket by Roy Morgan, Sportsbooks Publishing, 2007 The Tanzania Cricket Association became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001,Tanzania at CricketArchive having previously been part of the East and Central Africa Cricket Conference, which was a member of the ICC in its own right.
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Tanzania and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have had the T20I status.
History
Beginnings of cricket in Tanzania
Cricket was first played in what is now Tanzania on the island of Zanzibar by the British Navy as recreation for the officers and crew. Cricket spread to Tanganyika after the British took over the League of Nations mandate in 1919.
Cricket began to be concentrated mostly on the coast and on Zanzibar, with particular development in Dar-es-Salaam. Population from the Indian subcontinent quickly took up the game and by the 1930s formed the majority of the players, with a significant European minority.
National side
Early matches
Distance between Tanganyika and other countries in the African Great Lakes meant that the first international was not played until 1951, when Tanganyika lost by an innings to Kenya. Occasional matches against Kenya and Uganda continued throughout the 1950s and Zanzibar also played matches against Uganda, beginning in 1956.Uganda in Zanzibar 1956 at CricketArchive
Other opponents from further afield also toured, with Tanganyika playing the MCC in 1957Scorecard of Tanganyika v MCC, 28 December 1957 at CricketArchive and 1963,MCC in East Africa 1963/64 at CricketArchive a South African non-Europeans side in 1958 (who also played Zanzibar)South African Non-Europeans in East Africa 1958/59 at CricketArchive and Pakistan International Airlines in 1964.Pakistan International Airlines in East Africa 1964 at CricketArchive The occasional matches against Kenya and Uganda eventually led to a formal triangular tournament being introduced in 1967, later to become a quadrangular tournament with the addition of Zambia.
Decline
As many businesses were nationalised in the early 1970s, much of the Indian and British population began to leave the country. Cricketers, including John Solanky, who went on to play for Glamorgan, were amongst those who left the country, and cricketing standards declined.
Since the 1970s, the Tanzania Cricket Association has concentrated on developing the game amongst the African communities, and the national side now contains between 20 and 25% African players. The national side returned to form in the mid-1990s, when they were runners-up in two Africa-wide tournaments in 1994 and 1995, though there was again a slight decline in the late 1990s.
ICC membership
The Tanzania Cricket Association became an associate member of the ICC in 2001 (Tanzania had previously played international cricket as part of the combined East Africa and East and Central Africa teams) opening up new opportunities for Tanzanian cricket. The first matches for the national side as an ICC member were in the 2002 Africa Cup where they lost all four of their matches.2002 Africa Cup at CricketEurope
They showed improvement by the Africa Cricket Association Championship in 2004, where they still finished last, but did beat Zambia in the final match of the tournament, which was a qualifying event for the 2005 ICC Trophy.Africa qualifying for the 2005 ICC Trophy at tournament official website Even more improvement was shown in the equivalent tournament two years later, when they won Division Two of the World Cricket League Africa Region.Points Table for ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two 2006 at CricketArchive This result qualified Tanzania for Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin in 2007. Tanzania finished sixth in that tournament after losing to Hong Kong in a play-off, which relegated them to Division Four.Uganda lift Division Three title by Andrew Nixon, 2 June 2007 at CricketEurope
In 2008, Tanzania hosted Division Four of the World Cricket League. In this tournament they finished fourth, which meant that they remained in Division Four for the next tournament in 2010, played in Italy, where they came 4th again, thus remaining for 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four.
Tournament history Legend
Promoted Remained in the same division Relegated
Cricket World Cup Cricket World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 1975Part of East Africa Part of East Africa 1979 1983 1987 1992 1996 1999 2003 Did not enterDid not enter 2007 Did not qualify 51400 2011 113800 2015 123900 2019 126600 2023 Did not qualify 2027 12*1902 Total 0/14 – – – – – 52 14 36 0 2
Men's T20 World Cup Men's T20 World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 2007Not eligible Not eligible 2009 2010 2012 Did not qualify 8 5 3 0 0 2014 15 9 6 0 0 2016 5 0 5 0 0 2021 6 3 3 0 0 2022 10 7 3 0 0 2024 13 7 5 0 1 2026 10 7 3 0 0 2028To be determined 5* 4 0 0 1 Total 0/10 – – – – – 72 42 28 0 2
African Games African Games recordYearRoundPositionGPWLTNR 2023 Group stage 6/8 3 1 2 0 0 Total 0 titles 1/1 3 1 2 0 0
Other global tournaments CWC Challenge League (List A) CWC Challenge League Play-off (List A) World Cricket League (LA/ODI/50 overs) 2019–22: Did not qualify 2024–26 (B): 5th place () 2024: 4th place (Q)2007 (Division Three) : 6th place () 2008 (Division Four) : 4th place () 2010 (Division Four) : 4th place () 2012 (Division Four) : 6th place () 2014 (Division Five) : 3rd place () 2016 (Division Five) : 5th place
Other regional tournaments T20WC Africa Regional Final (T20I) T20WC Africa Sub-regional Qualifiers (T20I) ICC Africa T20 C'ship (T20) ACA Africa T20 Cup (T20I) East Africa T20 Series (T20I) 2021 : 3rd place (DNQ) 2023 : 6th place (DNQ) 2025 : 4th place (DNQ) 2018: 3rd place 2021: Winners (Q) 2022: Winners (Q) 2024: Winners (Q) 2026: Winners (Q) 2011 (Division Two): 4th place 2012 (Division Two): Runners-up 2013 (Division One): 3rd place 2015 (Division One): 6th place 2022: Runners-up 2022: Runners-up 2023: Runners-up
Records and statistics
International Match Summary — Tanzania
Last updated 28 March 2026 Playing Record Format M W L T NR Inaugural Match Twenty20 Internationals 83 51 29 0 3 2 November 2021
Twenty20 International
Highest team total: 242/6 v. Mozambique on 2 November 2021 at Gahanga International Cricket Stadium, Kigali. Highest individual score: 110, Ivan Selemani v. Seychelles on 27 March 2026 at Achimota Oval B, Accra. Best individual bowling figures: 5/2, Yalinde Nkanya v. Cameroon on 9 December 2022 at IPRC Cricket Ground, Kigali.
Most T20I runs for Tanzania PlayerRunsAverageCareer spanIvan Selemani 1,640 26.03 2021–2026Abhik Patwa 1,387 26.67 2021–2025Amal Rajeevan 1,063 26.57 2021–2025Kassim Nassoro 913 18.26 2021–2026Omary Kitunda 559 13.30 2021–2026
Most T20I wickets for Tanzania PlayerWicketsAverageCareer spanAlly Kimote 90 16.04 2021–2026Yalinde Nkanya 71 12.73 2022–2026SanjayKumar Thakor 65 15.07 2021–2024Salum Jumbe 65 20.98 2021–2025Kassim Nassoro 51 21.27 2021–2026
T20I record versus other nations
Records complete to T20I #3790. Last updated 28 March 2026. Opponent M W L T NR First match First win vs Full Members 2 0 2 0 0 23 November 2023 vs Associate Members 4 2 2 0 0 9 March 2024 8 July 2025 3 3 0 0 0 7 November 2021 7 November 2021 4 4 0 0 0 6 November 2021 6 November 2021 2 2 0 0 0 6 December 2022 6 December 2022 1 1 0 0 0 6 December 2022 6 December 2022 2 0 2 0 0 7 July 2025 2 2 0 0 0 4 December 2022 4 December 2022 5 2 3 0 0 17 November 2021 17 November 2021 1 0 1 0 0 6 March 2024 1 1 0 0 0 22 September 2024 22 September 2024 4 4 0 0 0 20 September 2022 20 September 2022 1 0 1 0 0 10 March 2024 1 1 0 0 0 21 September 2024 21 September 2024 2 2 0 0 0 2 November 2021 2 November 2021 3 0 3 0 0 28 November 2023 5 3 1 0 1 17 November 2021 17 November 2021 18 16 2 0 0 31 October 2022 31 October 2022 1 1 0 0 0 28 March 2026 28 March 2026 1 1 0 0 0 27 March 2026 27 March 2026 2 2 0 0 0 3 November 2021 3 November 2021 17 3 12 0 2 18 November 2021 19 December 2022 1 0 1 0 0 5 March 2024
Players
Current squad
This lists all the players who have played for Tanzania in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad. Updated as of 31 August 2023
Name Age Batting style Bowling style Notes Batters Ivan Selemani Right-handed Right-arm off break Omary Kitunda Right-handed Right-arm medium Abhik Patwa Right-handed Right-arm off break Captain Jitin Singh Right-handed Right-arm medium Dhrumit Mehta Right-handed Right-arm off break All-rounders Kassim Nassoro Right-handed Right-arm off break Vice-captain Md. Yunusu Issa Right-handed Right-arm medium Shaik Basha Left-handed Slow left-arm unorthodox Wicket-keepers Amal Rajeevan Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Spin Bowlers Yalinde Nkanya Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Sanjay Thakor Right-handed Right-arm leg break Akhil Anil Left-handed Right-arm off break Pace Bowlers Ally Kimote Right-handed Right-arm medium Salum Jumbe Left-handed Right-arm medium-fast Johnson Nyambo Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast
Other notable players
The following players played for Tanzania or Tanganyika and also played first-class or List A cricket:
Pranlal Divecha – played one first-class match for East Africa.Pranlal Divecha at CricketArchive Praful Mehta – played a One-Day International for East Africa in 1975.Praful Mehta at CricketArchive CD Patel – played for East Africa in 1967.CD Patel at CricketArchive RD Patel – played three first-class matches in the 1960s.RD Patel at CricketArchive Malcolm Ronaldson – Played for Eastern Province in 1937/38.Malcolm Ronaldson at CricketArchive John Solanky – Played for Glamorgan between 1972 and 1976.John Solanky at CricketArchive Shiraz Sumar – Played an ODI for East Africa in 1975.Shiraz Sumar at CricketArchive Vasant Tapu – Played two first-class matches for East Africa.Vasant Tapu at CricketArchive Paras Keshav – Played for Tanzania U19, Tanzania 1997-2000, played minor counties cricket in England. Suresh Raval – played for East Africa Vishal amratlal bhadra valambhia... Played minor counties cricket in England and played for Buckingham town cricket club for home counties
International grounds
See also East Africa cricket team East and Central Africa cricket team List of Tanzania Twenty20 International cricketers Tanzania national women's cricket team Tanzania national under-19 cricket team
Notes
References
External links Official website Tanzania cricket team image