Thursday 25 / April / 2024
Dharamsala: From unknowns to being knowns has been the major achievement for Oman Cricket and after their 'mixed bag' show in the ICC World T20 tournament grew quite a lot of curious minds, who wanted to know more about the nation and the development of the game.
As a lone journalist from Oman, yours truly indeed was a focal point and the questions of curiosity had to be answered elaborately and eloquently.
Pleased with what they heard about the recent development of the game in Oman and the way players shunt between office and ground almost every day and the structure of the game, it was a delight to watch the Indian media and the Bangladeshi media and some across the world go gaga on Oman and its cricket.
Some followed Oman's players to do special interviews and the percentage of coverage increased when the Sultanate team surprised the world with a win over Ireland in their first match of the tournament.
The debut saw left-arm spinner Ajay Lalcheta creating a record with the first ever performance of bowling a maiden in the first over of the match.
Zeeshan Maqsood's spectacular catch, which topped the ICC video charts, was another feature of the stunning win over Ireland. And to sum it all, the diminutive Amir Ali smashed his way to a man of the match award with a spectacular knock.
These efforts turned Oman cricketers into heroes with every scribe present there running behind the stars of Oman's win over Ireland.
Apart from the twitterati going wild, the cricket websites and the top newspapers of India highlighted everything about cricket in Oman, which was unprecedented in the past.
For a change the focus of the world was Oman and the reason being cricket.
From the days of cricket on cemented tracks to turf wickets and grass grounds, cricket in Oman has come a long way and making history on world stage has been the icing on the cake.
One may call them amateurs, but coach Duleep Mendis describes them as semi-professionals, but it is hoped that things will turn professional, especially after this achievement.
This Oman team may have only one national (citizen) Sufyan Mehmood but who knows, with the country being put into limelight, there might be more 'Sufyans' hovering around eagerly waiting to represent the country.
When Oman beat Ireland, it was Sufyan who celebrated the most, despite not being in the playing eleven. His enthusiasm is sure to lure in more citizen cricketers into the game.
Another player who drew attention from the Indian media was Oman's own 'slinger' Munis Ansari. The writers started comparing him with Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga and also went to the extent of saying that he was India's loss in the fast bowling department.
Ansari became the target of curiosity when he bamboozled Ireland's Kevin O'Brien with a slinging toe crusher. Kevin himself later admitted that he couldn't see the ball as it came from close to the umpire's shirt.
Another factor highlighted was Oman's bonhomie. Despite being different nationalities, the team hardly looked divided on those lines.
Coach Duleep Mendis categorically stated that there is no differences in the team.
"We are all one ... we play for one nation ... we are determined to do well," said Mendis. "Be it India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, we have many things in common and at the same time cricket is in our blood," he said.
Jatinder Singh is another Oman player, who has been the darling of media wherever he went and overheard were criticisms when the Ludhiana-born boy was dropped for the washed out match against the Netherlands.
There were Oman Cricket board members and fans celebrating Oman's performance on eve of the match against Bangladesh, but unified they were when questioning the broadcasters for showing very little highlights on Oman's win over Ireland.
The pride of seeing Oman's national anthem being sung on the ground and also the pride of Oman winning on world stage was so immense that it triggered a patriotic passion with everyone linked to Oman Cricket.
What next?
In two months time, Oman will play in yet another ICC event, the World Cricket League Division V. To be recalled Oman were in Division II of the WCL some years ago and had also participated in the 50-over ICC World Cup qualifier in 2009, but thereafter it has been a downward slide.
With the new confidence of playing in the world T20 behind them, Oman's mission will be now to gain the official ODI status by progressing well in the WCL.
However, Oman could be in trouble of finding players who can fit in the criteria of minimum seven years for players.
In Twenty20 the limit is only four years, while in the 50-over format the ICC requirement is much stricter.
Can Oman find players falling under the ICC requirement is a question, but if the board peeks into areas below the top divisions, they are bound to find some good talents, who can serve the game and nations.
In Division V, Oman will be playing against Jersey, who are the hosts, on May 21 followed by Nigeria on May 22, Vanuatu on May 24, Tanzania on May 25 and Guernsey on May 27.
Oman's climb in the 50-over format will be keenly watched from now on.
