Oman to host two major ACC tournaments in 2024: OC chief

MUSCAT: Oman Cricket (OC) continues to make big strides on and off the pitch. While the national team is getting ready to compete in the ICC T20 World Cup this June in the tournament, co-hosted by West Indies and the USA, the national governing body, is also gearing to host two major Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments in 2024. Oman Cricket Chairman Pankaj Khimji recently revealed that Oman is scheduled to host two major continental events at the OC annual awards ceremony (2021-22 and 2022-23) held at the Oman Cricket Academy grounds.

Addressing Oman’s cricket fraternity at the ceremony that included chief guest Muhammad bin Basheer Al Jarf, Chairman of Omantel, Basil bin Ahmed Al Rawas, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, star performers of two seasons, various division winners, dignitaries, OC board members and players, Khimji said: “Oman Cricket has made big strides and is moving in the right direction. Over the past three years, the national team has won laurels for the Sultanate of Oman. Domestic cricket has also seen great advancement as technology is being used to broadcast T10 and T20 domestic matches.

“I am proud of our achievements in the past three years. We promise to continue to fly Oman's flag high on the international stage. We will be hosting two ACC tournaments this year, with one of them to be the biggest ever staged by Oman towards the end of the year.”

The OC boss said that further details of the ACC events will be announced in future.

Khimji shed light on the progress made by the national team over the past three years and said that the awards ceremony, which is an annual feature, couldn’t be held due to the pandemic.

“Our quality of cricket is growing, and the national team's performance has been exceptional. Our organisational abilities were tested twice, and we came out with flying colours. Firstly, we set up the world-class facilities for the ICC T20 World Cup in 2021 in just 91 days. We continue to upgrade our facilities to top-level standards.

“Secondly, we were handed the project to set up the infrastructure facility for the Oman Hockey Association (OHA), which successfully hosted the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifiers recently and is now currently hosting the inaugural FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024. We put up the facility in just five months, and the participating teams and FIH officials have widely appreciated the arena. I thank the project head, Damodar Katti, and others related to the project for completing both projects.”

Khimji praised national team captain Zeeshan Maqsood and pace bowler Bilal Khan and said: “I am proud of them, the national team, and the support staff that has brought excellent results under the guidance of chief coach Duleep Mendis.”

The OC boss singled out Oman chief curator Anoop Kandy and head of umpiring committee Rahul Asher for praise for their excellent roles in their respective capacity.

Khimji said that OC is running pilot projects in Omani and international schools, and they now have a pool of nearly 700 students playing the game.

Earlier, Mendis, also OC chief development officer, said: “We witnessed 56 senior teams, 28 junior teams and five women’s teams in the 2021-22 season and 65 senior teams, 44 Junior teams and five women’s teams in the 2022-23 season. We have also successfully broadcasted the Premier Division in T20 and T10 formats globally since 2021 and have proudly attained three million+ viewers every season. We are striving towards broadcasting the 50-over format in the coming season.”

Mendis also spoke about the national team campaign from 2021 to the team’s qualification to the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and Oman’s title win in the inaugural GCC T20 Cricket Championship held in Qatar in September 2023. Oman will compete in the T20 World Cup for the third time when it competes in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

At the T20 World Cup, Oman is clubbed with Australia, England, Namibia, and Scotland in the mega-event projected to engage five billion-plus viewers across the globe.
On this occasion, Paul Sheridan, Oman Cricket vice-chairman, also spoke about the board's activities and the game's progress in Oman.