Muscat, dec 30 - As Oman cricket makes steady progress up the rungs of international cricket, Oman players are gaining greater exposure heading abroad. Omani cricketer Sufyan Mehmood, who is a member of the Oman national cricket team, was a part of a group of players who played in the Qatar T10 tournament organised by the Qatar Cricket Board earlier this month. Adnan Ilyas, Ajay Lalcheta and Mehran Khan were part of the group along with Sufyan and rubbed shoulders with Test players Hashim Amla, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul etc.
Sufyan expressed his satisfaction of having gained the experience of playing alongside well-known Test players.
“It was a good experience for me and I learnt a few things playing alongside Test players. I learnt a lot in terms of their approach towards the game and their attitude while playing the game. Having played at the highest level, there are certain things you can always learn from them,’’ he added.
“All in all, it was a great experience for all of us as it was the highest level we played in,’’ Sufyan stated.
Sufyan got a couple of wickets representing Swift Gallopets in the tournament and it was made all the more special as he picked up the prized scalp of former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez.
Adnan Ilyas, playing for Pearl Gladiators, notched up a couple of quickfire knocks in the tournament. He struck a 8-ball 18 against Flying Oryx and a 8-ball 20 against Falcon Hunters.
Mehran Khan, also playing for the Pearl Gladiators, came up with an all-round performance when he slammed 19 runs off 10 balls against Heat Stormer and bagged two wickets including the wicket of South Africa’s Hashim Amla.
Ajay Lalcheta, who was part of Desert Riders team, bagged two wickets in the tournament when he picked up 1/21 against Mohammad Rizlan of the Qatar national team. He also took 1/15 against Flying Oryx scalping Canada’s Harmandeep Singh.
USA T20
Sufyan flew to the United States as well and played at the USA T20 in Miami. The event featured international stars Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree, Uamr Gul, Sohaib Maqsood, Ali Khan etc.
The Omani player was a part of three matches that were rain affected and reduced to 10-overs-a-side.
“It was a pretty good experience to play in such a high-quality tournament. These tournaments help you gain confidence and exposure. I also played against Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans and bowled economically in all games and picked up a wicket. While batting, I remained not out in most of the games,’’ Sufyan added.
As Oman gets ready to play against UAE and Namibia in January and gears up for the long winding qualification process for the 2023 Cricket World Cup, some of its players gaining much needed and invaluable foreign exposure is crucial.
Sufyan thanked Oman Cricket for their support in helping him and the other players play these tournaments.
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