Oman raring to go for U-16 tourney

Sports Thursday 17/October/2019 09:23 AM
By: Times News Service
Oman raring to go for U-16 tourney

Muscat: Soon after successfully hosting the Pentangular T20 Series, Oman is now gearing up to hold the Asian Cricket Council’s Under-16 Western Region Championship, starting on October 21 at its picturesque twin grounds in Amirat.
Having won the five-nation T20 series at senior level, Oman is now looking to repeat the feat at junior level too but this time the matches will be a 35-over a side affair. Group A comprises UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Bahrain while Group B consists of Oman, Qatar, Maldives and Kuwait.
With top class indoor and outdoor training and practice facilities, apart from the two wonderful grassy grounds, Oman is now emerging as a busy international cricket venue.
Many bilateral and multilateral tournaments are going to be held here in the coming months.
Young Amanpreet Singh Sirah has been appointed captain of Oman team for the tournament and will be assisted by wicketkeeper batsman Shanmugarajan.
The team is being coached by Syed Tariq Hussain who is being assisted by Pervez Al Balushi. Packed with plenty of penetrating spinners and all-rounders, Oman is expected to reach the semifinals.
“The boys have been training hard for the tournament and I am quite confident we will do fairly well,” said Oman coach Tariq Hussain. Two games are scheduled to be held at 9.30 am daily, one each on OC ground 1 and 2. The first day will see UAE taking on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia facing Iran on October 21.
Oman will play its first game on Tuesday, October 22 against Kuwait while Qatar will take on Maldives on the adjacent ground.
The semifinals will be held on Monday, October 28, followed by the final the next day at OC ground 1.
Oman squad: Amanpreet Singh Sirah (captain), Shanmugarajan (wicketkeeper, vice-captain), Mohammed Nihal Siraj, Yash Verma, Bilal Asim, Arjun Dhiman, Siddh Mehta, Ayman Ayaz, Jayesh Anil, Sanjaya Ravindra, Zayed Ali Khan, Viraj Ashar, Abdullah Iftikhar and Tanuj Sivakumar.
Reserves: Navneeth Krishnan, Aditya Gurumukhi, Qais Khalid Al Balushi and Ishan Jabir.
Officials: Sher Mohammed (manager), Syed Tariq Hussain (coach), Parvez Al Balushi (assistant coach), Suresh Kumar (physio).