Sunday 24 / November / 2024
Muscat: Oman is expected to hold some nail-biting games when the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup comes to the country in October this year, according to Jay Shah, the honorary secretary of the Board for Control of Cricket in India.
Although Oman and the neighbouring United Arab Emirates will hold the games at their venues, the BCCI remains the host of the World Cup, after it was moved from India to the Middle East, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As you know, the Twenty20 World Cup is a very exciting tournament,” said Shah, who also serves as President of the Asian Cricket Council. “We are waiting for some nail-biting games. All things are going well. Earlier, we had planned to hold this tournament in India, but because of the pandemic, we needed to move it to the UAE and Oman.
“I am delighted to be in Oman – this is a proud moment for the people of the country, as well as Oman Cricket,” he said, in the context of the country being awarded the joint venue rights to the tournament. “It is a proud moment for me as well, as I have been able to introduce the first event of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to the UAE, as well as Oman.”
Shah was part of a delegation of top-level representatives from the ICC, global cricket’s governing body, and the BCCI, which travelled to Oman on Friday, July 16, to announce the groups of the preliminary rounds of the tournament.
The prelims are split into two groups, each of which are scheduled to be played in Oman and the UAE. Oman will be playing at home, against Papua New Guinea, Scotland, and Bangladesh, while the Netherlands, Namibia, Ireland, and Sri Lanka will be in the other group.
The teams that finish in the top two positions in both groups will make it through to the Super 12s, which already features the other leading cricketing nations: India, Pakistan, England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the West Indies, and Afghanistan.
Jay Shah was speaking to TFM, the radio station of the Times of Oman.
