The Oman cricket team is going to add a big chapter to its cricket history in September this year. Oman will participate for the first time in the 2025 Men’s Asia Cup to be held in the UAE from 9 to 28 September. The tournament will be played in T20 format and eight teams will participate in it, in which Oman has been placed in Group A along with India, Pakistan and hosts UAE.
Oman qualified for the Asia Cup by finishing runners-up in the 2024 ACC Men’s Premier Cup, showing their growing strength in Asian cricket. The team has already played the ICC T20 World Cup three times in 2016, 2021 and 2024, including a historic win against Ireland in 2016.
Team coach and Oman Cricket’s development head Duleep Mendis called it a “dream opportunity” for the team. He said it is a rare opportunity to play against big teams like India and Pakistan and the players should take full advantage of it.
Oman Cricket Board treasurer Alkesh Joshi said that reaching such a big stage is the result of years of hard work and planning. He said, “Playing against teams like India and Pakistan is not only a matter of pride, but it will also be a great learning opportunity for our players.”
The team’s assistant coach Sulakshan Kulkarni and Oman’s Sports Ministry are also said to have made important contributions to this success. The team has planned to play practice matches with strong teams before the Asia Cup so that they can perform better in the tournament.
Coach Mendis said, “Anything can happen in T20 cricket. Our team is preparing with full enthusiasm and we hope that our players can perform amazingly against big names.”
