The Oman national cricket team has captured the Pages of news with four uncapped players being picked in their debut in the Asia Cup and that it is a great stride towards their journey in the cricketing sport. Such a defiant choice illustrates how the country is willing to use young talent to compete with Asia with the best powerhouses of cricket.
The Oman teams is comprised of 17 players, four of whom are yet to earn their international caps; Sufyan Yousuf, Zikria Islam, Faisal Shah, and Nadeem Khan. Such choice shows the trust of the team management in the new talent and their desire to create sustainable cricket program in a long-term perspective.
Captained by the veteran opener Jatinder Singh, the team consists of both experienced players as well as young unpolished gems and in that sense, the team forms a well balanced group of players, which has a possibility of surprising the tournament. The guidance of Singh as the skipper will be key towards the newcomers coping under the demands of playing in the biggest arena of the game.
With coach Duleep Mendis excited about the debut of his team in the Asia Cup, he opined this tournament will make a difference to the Oman cricket scene. Everything is real that we are taking part in the Asian Cup – a great tournament and a wonderful chance to our players to present their skills at the international stage.
The Sri Lankan coach emphasized the peculiarities of the T20 game, in two over the situation can turn drastically. Playing against such powerful teams as India and Pakistan is something to savor by any cricket player. In a frantic T20 encounter everything can go wrong or right during one over of excellent play and that could work in Oman’s favor, in a game saturated with unpredictability, he added.
The preparation process by Oman has been thorough with the current National T20 tournament as an important source of competitive experience to the team. The local league has enabled players to gauge their skills and be able to build match fitness before the challenge at the Asia Cup.
Mendis pointed out that merely technical skills will not make one successful when he/she is at this level. It is more than skills alone – in a tense game against a high-end team the mental aspect is also very important. The emphasis on psychological preparation by the coach is based on the realization that playing a high-powered cricket team such as India and Pakistan needs an extraordinarily tough mental strength.
Oman is having a very challenging but an exuberating schedule in group A. Their Asia Cup tournament will start on September 12 against Pakistan, followed by their crucial match against the UAE, on September 15, and conclude the group stage against India, on September 19.
Each time a match becomes different. The first match against Pakistan will determine the mood of the rest of the games whereas against UAE can be crucial to either qualify or move out. The last game against India, no matter the agenda but most likely the final game of this tournament, will grant priceless experience against one of the most powerful nations of the world in terms of cricket.
Oman’s participation in this Asia Cup is in-correlation with its increased international exposure. Their last competitive activity was at the Men Cricket World Cup League 2 competition in Lauderhill, USA in May. It is their second test in a major multi-nation tournament after the T20 World Cup last year.
The chronology serves to demonstrate that Oman has gradually come up through the international cricketing circles. All these tournament realizations lead to a lot of experience and exposure that leads to the overall growth of cricket infrastructure and talent in the nation.
The whole Oman team demonstrates an unusual combination of expertise and hope:
Targeting a double hat-trick, the team developed a strong bond with the Gypsies and in a practice match, it held the Gypsies to a 1-1 draw.
New Faces: Sufyan Yousuf, Zikriya Islam, Faisal Shah, Nadeem Khan
Cast: Ashish Odedara, Aamir Kaleem, Mohammed Nadeem, Sufyan Mehmood
Aryan Bisht, Karan Sonavale, Hassnain Shah, Muhammed Imran, Shakeel Ahmed, Samay Shrivastava
The maiden Asia cup appearance of Oman would not only mean going into a tournament but symbolize the fact that Oman is emerging as a serious cricketing nation. The four uncapped players included in the team shows belief in the domestic cricket system and talent identification procedures.
Such a tournament will be a stepping stone in providing important learning experience to the four uncapped players and this can have a significant impact in halting their progress at a young age or getting them to become as successful as possible in the international circuit as early as possible. The publicity exposure to be derived through competing with Famous international stars will be of immense benefit to their future careers.
Oman comes in as crowd-favorites as they are not the favorites, but the current format of the T20s provides the chance to have a prove of the upset. The overall aim of the team goes beyond current performance to ensuring long-term improvement and making Oman into a country that can hold its own among the Asian cricket teams.
The success in the tournaments will not be only in the number of wins and losses but in the experience, skills learned, and the preparedness towards playing in future tournaments. The Asia Cup is yet another milestone in the large cricketing aspirations by Oman whose vision looks towards playing on the biggest stages in international competitions regularly.
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