Eric Dusingizimana

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Eric Dusingizimana
Personal information
Born (1987-03-21) 21 March 1987 (age 34)
BattingRight-handed
International information
National side
T20I debut (cap 3)18 August 2021 v Ghana
Last T20I19 October 2021 v Seychelles
Source: Cricinfo, 19 October 2021

Eric Dusingizimana (born 21 March 1987) is a Rwandan cricketer and civil engineer who also captained the Rwanda national cricket team.[1] He is also a Guinness World Record holder in cricket which he set in 2016 for a social cause.[2] He was well known for his marathon batting effort in 2016 where he batted for 51 hours non-stop in order to set a Guinness World Record.[3][4] He decided to bat for such long time in order to raise funds for the construction of Gahanga International Cricket Stadium.[5]

Early life[]

He was born in a family of six siblings. He witnessed the 1994 Rwandan genocide as a six-year-old boy. He along with his family members managed to survive from the genocide which killed more than 600,000 people in Rwanda.[6] He began playing cricket at the age of 18 in 2006 when he was studying in the high school. He idolised MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers during his young age when he started playing the sport of cricket.[6] He pursued interest in the sport of cricket due to the close interrelationship cricket had with the subject combination which he selected for his studies.[7]

Career[]

He pursued his higher studies at his university in the field of civil engineering. He also graduated in architecture technology. He was selected to the national team in 2008 for the 2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three tournament. He was appointed as the captain of the national cricket team in 2011. He also attended the meetings of Rwanda selection committee since being appointed as the captain of the team.[6]

In May 2016, he embarked on a unique mission to support the Rwanda Cricket Association in order to build the first cricket stadium in Rwanda. Eric took it as his dream project with a vision of establishing Rwanda's first ever cricket ground. He batted for about 51 hours continuously for more than two days which also attracted huge crowd attention and national attention.[8][9] His attempt was later recognised by the Guinness World Record officials as the world record for the longest individual net session.[10] He began his attempt on 11 May 2016 and was allowed a five-minute break for every hour of his batting session and completed the task on 13 May 2016 at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.[11] He also faced throwdowns from the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair who was on an official visit to Rwanda in order to attend the World Economic Forum on Africa. His wife apparently bowled the last delivery to him.[12] He broke the world record of India's Virag Mare during his marathon efforts.[13] Following his marathon effort, he was hailed as a national hero in Rwanda.[14] Rwanda Stadium Cricket Foundation, a charity organisation was set up to raise funds to construct the Gahanga International Cricket Stadium.[15] In June 2016, he travelled to England, spent a week in London and managed to raise £120,000.[16] He was accompanied by English cricketer Joe Root who joined his fundraising trip across England.[17]

He also approached the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees in order to discuss his interest to launch cricket training programs for refugees in Rwanda.[18]

In August 2021, he was named in the Rwandan squad for the home T20I series against Ghana.[19] He made his T20I debut for Rwanda on 18 August 2021, against Ghana, in what was Rwanda's first official T20I.[20]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Eric Dusingizimana profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Rwanda cricket captain Eric Dusingizimana inscribes his name in Guinness World Record". Cricket Country. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Eric Dusingizimana breaks world cricket batting record". Hiru News. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Man bats for 51 hours straight to set new world record". The Independent. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Umunyarwanda yaciye umuhigo w'isi mu mukino wa Cricket". BBC News Gahuza (in Kinyarwanda). Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Meet Eric Dusingizimana: The Engineer who is building future of Cricket in Rwanda". Cricket Country. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Dusingizimana on life as a cricket world record holder". The New Times | Rwanda. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  8. ^ May 14, TNN | Updated; 2016; Ist, 10:04. "Rwanda cricketer bats for 51 hours straight to create world record | undefined News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ 51 hours in the nets to build Rwanda's #FieldofDreams, retrieved 18 August 2021
  10. ^ "Captain bats for 51 straight hours". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  11. ^ Roy, Rudranil Guha (8 April 2016). "Rwanda's Eric Dusingizimana to attempt longest net practice session world record". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Watch Rwanda captain Eric Dusingizimana enter Guinness Book of Records in quest for cricket stadium at home". Cricket Country. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Dusingizimana's batathon for a Rwandan field of dreams". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  14. ^ "Kigali tales". Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  15. ^ Gheerbrant, James. "One stadium, one nation for the cricketers of post-genocide Rwanda". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  16. ^ "Funds Raised for Rwanda's Cricket Stadium". allAfrica.com. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  17. ^ Hoult, Nick (20 June 2016). "Record-breaking Rwanda captain Eric Dusingizimana rounds off successful fundraising trip with Joe Root". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Guinness World Record holder and Captain of Rwanda's National Cricket Team brings the new sport of cricket to refugee camps in Rwanda". UNHCR Rwanda. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Rwanda to host Ghana for T20 bilateral series". The New Times | Rwanda. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  20. ^ "1st T20I, Rwanda, Aug 18 2021, Ghana tour of Rwanda". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2021.

External links[]

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