Published: Mar 09, 2016, 05:27 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 09, 2016, 05:27 PM (IST)
Perhaps the least-known team of the ICC World T20 2016, Oman named their 15-man squad for the tournament recently. History will be made when they play for the first time in an ICC event. A team that has come out as ‘fearless’ in context to how it responded to a Mankading incident on the field, it will be an occasion to display their talent in front of the world. 38-year-old Sultan Ahmed, the wicketkeeper batsman, will marshal his troops when the event begins in India. Oman has been drawn into Group A and will up against teams like Netherlands, Ireland and Bangladesh. Also Read: Ireland vs Oman, Live Score, 4th T20 Match, Group A, ICC T20 World Cup 2016
Oman, a largely unknown entity, have come a long way; their arrival to the ICC World T20 has been backed up by their performances. They have not looked back since the ICC World T20 qualifier last year. Oman came into that tournament ranked 29, but found way and advanced further after beating teams like Netherlands, Canada, Afghanistan and Namibia. They did not stop at that. In the qualifiers of the Asia Cup, they beat Hong Kong, and came close to winning against Afghanistan too.
Oman have a massive challenge ahead of them as they play to qualify as the top team in their group. They might pose very little threat to other teams playing in their group, but what they would be looking to cause, is an upset. If Oman’s players go out there and play with maximum freedom, they could cause an upset and thereby, make a name for them on the big stage.
This time that maybe for the right reasons. They have portrayed a bold attitude towards the mankading controversy in which the team was involved. It will be interesting to see how they go out with bat and ball in hand when the World T20 gets underway: “Be it Ireland, Netherlands or Bangladesh, we look to them as ‘similar opponents’. All the boys in our team are ready… we fear none,” Sultan said prior to the T20 World Cup.
Meanwhile, bowling coach Sunil Joshi’s knowledge about spin and Indian conditions might be high importance to spinners Amir Kaleem and Zeeshan Siddiqui. Oman will play their first match against Ireland on 9th March in Dharamsala.
Oman Squad for ICC World T20 2016 : Sultan Ahmed (c&wk), Aamir Kaleem, Syed Amir Ali, Munis Ansari, Jatinder Singh, Ajay Lalcheta, Mehran Khan, Rajesh Ranpura, Sufyan Mehmood, Vaibhav Wategaonkar, Zeeshan Ahmad Siddiqui, Zeeshan Maqsood, Bilal Khan, Adnan Ilyas, Khawar Ali.
(Karan Dewan is a reporter at CricketCountry)
