Kenya was the story of the 2003 World Cup. And Collins Obuya was its most popular chapter. The African nation made it as far as the semifinals―only to fall to India―on the back of some inspired performances by the leg-spinner. In the match against Sri Lanka, Obuya took 5-24, foxing the likes of Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
He had taken lessons from the greatest craftsman of leg spin, Shane Warne, who gave him tips on how to bowl the flipper and the wrong one. With these new arrows in his quiver, he took 13 wickets in the tournament at an average of 28.76, eventually earning a contract with Warwickshire for the 2003 season.
For a boy who earned most of his money selling tomatoes in his mother’s market, the sudden fame was dizzying. He used to earn $1,000 a year from cricket before the World Cup; his team got a payout of $5,00,000 at the end of it.
But the spotlight vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Obuya could not impress in his county stint because of a knee injury, had a fallout with the Kenyan board, and was ruled out of the 2004 Champions Trophy because of appendicitis.
The following year, he went to Australia to seek guidance from Terry Jenner, who had coached Warne into prominence. Sadly, that partnership went nowhere and Obuya began transitioning into a batter’s role.
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It was a slow burn, but the results showed in the 2011 World Cup. In six matches, Obuya collected 243 runs at an average of 48.60, which included a 98* against an Australian attack that featured Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait.
More than a decade later, Obuya has not given up the dream. Now 42, and a father of two, he is till part of the Kenyan team and wants to play abroad one last time. “If we manage to qualify (for the 2024 T20 World Cup), it will be a great privilege for me,” he told The Nation this June. “You never know, if I perform well, I may even get a call-up by an IPL team. It has been my dream to play in the IPL, so I will seize the opportunity even if it for a short time.”
As his Kenya teammate Pushkar Sharma said in an interview earlier this year, “He is like Virat Kohli to us.”