Oman Cricket: Assarain remain dominant force with T20 Premier Division crown

Sports Sunday 10/April/2016 22:33 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman Cricket: Assarain remain dominant force with T20 Premier Division crown

Muscat: Assarain has once again proven that they are a dominant force in Oman Cricket as they have been confirmed the champions of the Premier Division T20 League.
The confirmation of coronation came when Muscat CT defeated Enhance CT in the last weekend encounter, which meant Assarain enjoyed an unassailable lead in the league.
With 15 points to their credit, Assarain are sitting pretty on the top and though they have to play one more match next week, none can break the apple-cart at this stage now.
To be recalled Assarain had won the A Division title the previous two seasons and with a whiff of change coming in the cricket scenario in the Sultanate, the new format of Premier Division was introduced.
The top teams of A Division last year had to face off in the new-look league which was played in two formats — the 50-overs and T20.
With new infrastructure taking shape at Al Amerat, the Premier Division matches were played under floodlights and especially after Oman qualifying for the World T20, there was renewed interest, which made the top flight division highly competitive and attractive.
Speaking to Times Sport on Sunday, Assarain team manager Vinu Mathew said: "We actually aimed at winning both the titles in Premier Division, but we are immensely glad to have one of them."
"I must say the T20 tournament held big significance, especially with Oman making the World T20 for the first time ever and with that making the future of the game in the country more bright and purposeful," said Vinu, while praising his team for the achievement.
Also hailing and praising the team was Ibrahim Al Wahaibi, the managing director of Assarain Group. "I congratulate the team for winning the third consecutive title in the Oman Cricket League and I am looking forward to further success in the coming years."
Assarain Group officials have always supported their sports outfits, especially the cricket teams, and similarly had awarded the team with a Sri Lankan sojourn after they became the A Division champions.
This season, ably managed by Vinu, Assarain overcame stiff competition and the highlight of success was the great camaraderie and team spirit.
Assarain also had a new captain this season with young and talented Sindo Michael, a player of repute from south Indian state of Kerala, taking over from Arif Hussain, who according to Vinu relinquished his captaincy to concentrate more on his playing abilities.
For Sindo, who was a stand-bye in the World T20 squad, this was his first major win.
"We played well and this title is fruit of our team effort. It would have been good had we won the 50-over format too," said Sindo.
"We have a talented and hard-working team with some members like Zeeshan Maqsood needing no special introduction."
Players like Zeeshan Maqsood, Mohammed Nadeem, Arun Poulose are in the probables list selected for the World Cricket League Division 5.
The victorious members of the Assarain team are Hafiz Irfan, Ramkumar, Harikrishna, Dikshanshu Negi, Zeeshan Maqsood, Mohammed Nadeem, Arif Hussain, Ahmad Raza, Kaleemullah, Suraj Sampath, Naseem Khushi, Arun Poulose, Vinu Kumar, Sindo Michael, Fiaz-ul Hassan, Vibin Vilayil and Vinu Mathew.