Oman (B)

Oman's cricketing journey in the T20 World Cup began in 2016 and they co-hosted the 2021 edition with the UAE. However, their qualification bid fell short in 2022, as they finished fourth in the qualifiers.

This time around, Oman exhibited remarkable resilience, emerging victorious in the qualifiers, defeating the host nation Nepal in a nail-biting Super Over in the final.

The announcement of the Omani squad for the World Cup held a surprise as batting all-rounder Aqib Ilyas was appointed as new captain. Notably, former skipper Zeeshan Maqsood, Oman's T20I leading run-scorer, retained his place in the team. However, opener Jatinder Singh did not make the cut for the 2024 squad.

The bowling attack will once again be anchored by the left-arm yorker specialist, Bilal Khan. He will be ably supported by the likes of Kaleemullah and Fayyaz Butt.

Oman are positioned in Group B alongside Australia, England, Namibia and Scotland. Building upon their past performances where they secured victories, Oman can certainly harbour aspirations of registering at least one win in this group stage.

SQUAD

Aqib Ilyas (C), Zeeshan Maqsood, Kashyap Prajapati, Pratik Athavale, Ayaan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Naseem Khushi, Mehran Khan, Bilal Khan, Rafiullah, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Shakeel Ahmad, Khalid Kail

KEY PLAYER

AQIB ILYAS

Oman's hopes hinge on red-hot captain Aqib Ilyas. Since January 2023, the 31-year-old all-rounder leads in runs (675) and shares the wicket-taking crown (35) with Bilal Khan for the team in T20Is. His eight years of experience on the international level is crucial, especially with Kashyap Prajapati and Naseem Khushi likely opening, followed by Aqib at No 3 and Zeeshan Maqsood at No 4. The inclusion of Pratik Athavale and Ayaan Khan bolsters the lower middle-order.

STAT ATTACK

T20 World Cup Appearance: 3rd
T20 World Cup Performance: Played 6, Won 2, Lost 3, NR 1

DID YOU KNOW?

Oman boast a perfect record in T20 World Cup openers, having crushed Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets in 2021 and edging Ireland by 2 wickets in 2016.