Kunle Adegbola is one of the greatest players that has ever played for Nigeria. He has a place in Nigeria all – time cricket XI. The tall, slim, sleek and talented cricketer has shown class both as an all-rounder and also as a captain. A prodigious swinger of the ball, he makes the ball move both ways, and is very deadly with the new ball.
An old boy of Ijemo-Titun High School Abeokuta in Ogun State, he rose to stardom as a school boy prodigy playing in the Howzat Super League for the Phillip Asiodu Trophy. He burst into the scene as a young opening bowler who gets the ball to swing in and out, in the air and off the turf. He became virtually unplayable with his unerring accuracy. At the Howzat coaching clinics, Kunle was said to have the ability to ‘swing’ the rubber ball and ‘paper’. He was such a prolific wicket-taker that he was sought after by clubsides. Cool and unfazed, Kunle would always deliver with the ball and rarely bowled bad balls. By the year 2001, Kunle was already almost a ‘finished product’ as a bowler and waiting to be announced to the Nigeria cricket world. He was an automatic choice for the first ever Nigeria’s under-19 team that played Ghana at the Achimota oval in December 2000, from there he was selected to be a member of the West African (WACC) under-19 side that played in the ICC-AFRICA under-19 championship in Kampala, Uganda in 2001. National team call- up was so inevitable that in 2002 Adegbola was Nigeria’s strike bowler as Nigeria recaptured the Quadrangular. Kunle at 20 was so much in his elements that he hardly went for double figures in his full complement of ten overs. At the ACA championship in Lusaka, Zambia in September, 2002, Adegbola was Nigeria’s most potent weapon.
For me the ball of the tournament was the out-swinger that bowled John Lungi the captain of Uganda, it pitched outside the leg stump and clipped the off stump bails. It was a Jaffa that totally stunned the batsman and crowd.
Adegbola continued his rise to prominence and his batting improved considerately. Batting in the middle of the innings he began to score consistently and moved up to a strike bowler that can bat. He still continued his rise and rose to become a genuine all-rounder, a prolific wicket-taker and a great runs accumulator.
By 2013, Kunle Adegbola was slowly emerging as Nigeria’s most successful captain. Kunle led Nigeria to victory at the ICC WCL division 7 in Botswana in April 2013 and also to gain promotion to division 6 at the ICC WCL Division 6 in Jersey July 2013.
Kunle re-discovered his bowling form in Jersey to add to his considerable skills as a batsman. Coming in at No 6, Kunle paces his innings well picking up singles and playing into gaps. A very busy player who scores at a run a ball, he times the ball sweetly when playing his off and on drives.
As a captain he has earned his stripes and has grown in stature as a brilliant tactician and man-manager. I rate him highly as our most influential and dependable player.
It was an honour to coach and work with Kunle Adegbola from his teen years to the pinnacle of his career. A humble and modest person, Kunle gave no trouble, did not have an attitude and was a coach’s delight.
My name is Olisa Egwuatu and I have been involved in the development of thousands of young cricketers in so many countries.
In my dictionary, Kunle Adegbola will make my list of Nigeria’s all time cricket XI.
Why? Consistent performances for fourteen solid years.
