MUSCAT: Oman will look to bounce back after losing an ODI series against UAE when they take on a strong Nepal side in the quadrangular twenty20 series which begins at the Oman Cricket Academy grounds at Al Amerat from Friday.
The hosts, led by Zeeshan Maqsood, will meet Nepal in the afternoon after the opening fixture involving other two teams -- Ireland and UAE -- in the tournament.
In the three-match ODI series against the UAE, Oman lost two close matches and tied in the third to earn a point.
Oman, who played in the T20 World Cup recently in Muscat, will be keen to brush up their T20 skills. Star batter Jatinder Singh hit a century in the first ODI against UAE, and Shoaib Khan and Ayaan Khan were among the runs. Bowlers Kaleemullah and Bilal Khan were also impressive in the series.
SIX GAMES
The quadrangular series will include six games on February 11, 12 and 14, with all the teams playing on all the matchdays.
Oman head coach Duleep Mendis said the tournament will give the much-needed match experience ahead of the World Cup T20 qualifiers.
“I’ve always maintained that to progress in world cricket, one needs to play strong opposition whenever possible. That is the fastest way to learn and grow. Ireland is a test playing side. The UAE and Nepal are formidable limited over sides and have come a long way in the last few years. I’m certain that this series will stand us in good stead, going into the T20 qualifiers,” the chief development officer of Oman Cricket said.
Oman emerged victorious in their only T20 match against Nepal in October 2019. However, both the
UAE and Ireland hold superior head-to-head records, giving Oman a chance to rectify the same in this
series before entering the World T20 qualifiers.
The matches can be viewed live on Eurosports in India, Geo Sports in Pakistan, Himalaya TV in Nepal
and Next TV in USA. On digital mediums, the matches will be televised on Fancode in India, Sports
Eye on Facebook, CrickTracker on YouTube in all regions except Nepal where it will be on OSR Sports.
OC TIES UP WITH ITW ProdG
Earlier, Oman Cricket announced ITW ProdG as its commercial and broadcasting partner for the quadrangular series.
Pankaj Khimji, chairman of Oman Cricket said, “We see the upcoming quadrangular series as the perfect preparatory tool for the ICC World T20 qualifiers. But further, it is another advertisement of Oman’s cricketing spirit. I’m delighted to have ITW on board for the same and it fills me with pride to know that fans from different parts of the globe can tune in to watch the games and support their teams”.
Vivek Chandra, Director of ITW also expressed his excitement for the partnership and went on to confirm that the tournament would have Wolf News as presenting partner and SKY247.net as the Powered By partner, with TVS, SAT Sport and Fairplay News as the other Associate Sponsors.
He said, “ITW has partnered with various TV channels, the matches will be live on Eurosports in India, Geo Sports in Pakistan, Himalaya TV in Nepal, Next TV in USA. It would also be on digital mediums - Fancode in India; On YouTube it would be on OSR Sports in Nepal, CrickTracker in Rest of World & on Facebook it would be on Sports Eye”.
Oman’s squad for quadrangular series
Zeeshan Maqsood (captain), Jatinder Singh, Kashyapkumar, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Ayaan Khan, Nester Dhamba, Sandeep Goud, Naseem Khushi (W/K), Khawar Ali, Aamir Kaleem, Fayyaz
Butt, Kaleemullah, Bilal Khan, Khurram Nawaz; Support Staff: Madhu Jesrani (manager), Duleep
Mendis (Head Coach), Mazhar Khan (Assistant Coach), Zeeshan (Analyst), Evert (Trainer), Sean
(Physio), Avishkar Salvi (Fast Bowling Coach)
Quadrangular series fixtures:
Feb 11 -- Ireland v UAE, 10 am; Oman v Nepal, 2 pm
Feb 12 -- Nepal v UAE, 10 am; Oman v Ireland, 2 pm
Feb 14 -- Oman v UAE, 10 am; Ireland v Nepal, 2 pm
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