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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Oman heroes arrive to grand welcome

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Oman’s cricketing heroes arrived to a grand reception at the Muscat International Airport on Friday.


It was mission accomplished for the Duleep-Mendis coached team as they qualified to their second ever World Cup after the T20 World Cup Qualifiers in the UAE.


The qualification for World Cup Australia 2020 also underlines Oman’s competency as one of the top-level cricketing nations, justifying their ODI world ranking of 15.


Oman Cricket board member Pankaj Khimji was spot on to his point.


“With the qualification to the second World Cup in Oman Cricket’s history, we are underlining Oman’s status as a top nation in the Associate Members of ICC (International Cricket Council),” Pankaj told Observer.


“Congratulations to our boys and the coaching staff. The World Cup Qualifier was very competitive. Our players managed to reach the goal in last play-off. It is a great achievement,” the enthusiastic administrator added.


Hamza Ali Mohammed Eidroos, Director of Public Relations and Media at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, was present along with Oman Cricket officials and the cricket fraternity in the Sultanate to accord a warm welcome the Oman squad led by Madhu Jesrani, Secretary of Oman Cricket.


JOB DONE


Coach Mendis looked relieved after Oman making the mark in their final chance.


“We wanted to make the direct qualification from the group. But the defeat against Jersey put the pressure back on us,” the former Sri Lankan Test player said.


The veteran coach opined that Oman have learned to cope up with the pressure situations.


“This is not the first time we were facing such situations. We were routed by Scotland some time back at Amerat. But we showed character to bounce back in the next match and beat them.”


Mendis agreed that the exposure to such pressure matches in the World Cup Qualifier would serve the good in Oman’s way forward.


Captain Zeeshan Maqsood admitted that the fortunes were fluctuating in the play-off matches.


“We were confident to seal the place in the World Cup. But the way was not smooth and credit to the players who battled it out and completed our mission.”


“Against Hong Kong, we had some early setback. But Jatinder’s brilliant innings made us recover. In bowling, Bilal Khan was leading from the front along with Fayaz Butt.”


EDGE IN BOWLING


Bilal, who was on a ‘yorker spree’ during the play-off against Hong Kong, scalped 4-19 and emerged as the bowler with highest number of wickets in the tournament.


The pace bowler took 18 wickets from the nine matches he played in the UAE.


Oman spinners also rose to the occasion in the tournament with Aamir Kaleem earning two man of the match awards in the first two matches. All-rounder Khawar Ali also chipped in when it mattered as Oman’s bowling unit looked formidable.


In batting, opener Jatinder Singh made his bat talk most of the time and becoming the top-scorer of the Qualifier with 267 runs from nine matches.


Jatinder said “he had played according to the team’s needs in the Qualifier tournament. In the match against Hong Kong, I knew that if I dig in there is always a chance for us to post a good total. I did just that and in the end Muhammad Naseem came in and belted some quick runs.”


The right-handed batsman said it was a very competitive tournament and all the teams were showing thorough professional approach.


“Fitness was one of key factors of the tournament competed by no amateur cricketers but professional athletes,” Jatinder concluded.


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