The performances in big tournaments or lack of it generally comes down to the leaders, the captain and the coach and with 12 teams getting eliminated from the group stage in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup has had a similar spiralling down effect on first New Zealand and now Uganda. While Kane Williamson stepped down as white-ball captain for the Black Caps, Uganda's long-time T20 captain has quit from the role while calling time on his career in the shortest format.
Uganda, making their T20 World Cup debut, won just one out of their four matches against Papua New Guinea while losing to the big three in Group C, Afghanistan, West Indies and New Zealand. There were a few bright spots for Uganda after they trumped Zimbabwe to be in the marquee ICC event but left a lot to be desired while the outgoing skipper Masaba urging for more games and opportunities for Associates against the bigger and more established teams.
"It's something I have been considering for quite a while now," he said in a speech shared by Uganda Cricket Association on social media on Wednesday, June 19. Masaba described leading Uganda as the biggest honour of his life while mentioning that it was "a privilege to lead my country, not just at a World Cup, but for the past five years."
Masaba ended his stint as the joint-second most successful captain in men's T20Is with 45 wins in 60 matches. Masaba has equal number of wins in T20Is as captain for Uganda as India's Rohit Sharma. Babar Azam is still the most successful captain in T20Is with 48 wins at the helm of Pakistan cricket team.
Most wins as captain in T20Is (including Super Over wins)
48 wins in 85 matches - Babar Azam (Pakistan)
45 wins in 60 matches - Brian Masaba (Uganda)
45 wins in 57 matches - Rohit Sharma (India)
44 wins in 71 matches - Eoin Morgan (England)
42 wins in 52 matches - Asghar Afghan (Afghanistan)
42 wins in 72 matches - MS Dhoni (India)
41 wins in 76 matches - Aaron Finch (Australia)