MUSCAT: Captain Zeeshan Maqsood will lead an unchanged Oman side to Nepal for participation in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series that also involves the USA which currently heads the seven-team points table with 12 points from 8 matches, winning six and losing two.
The series will be held in the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, from February 5 to 12.
Focusing on continuity in team selection for better results, Oman, coached by Sri Lankan great Duleep Mendis, has stuck to the same set of players that took part in the home tri-series in December involving UAE and Namibia.
These matches are part of a series of 36 One-Day Internationals that Oman will play against the USA, UAE, Scotland, Namibia, PNG and Nepal in multiple tri-series over a period of 30 months since getting ODI status in April 2019.
With 8 points from 8 games so far, Oman will be looking to add as many points to its tally as possible to rise from its current fourth place on the table with Namibia and Scotland occupying third and second places respectively.
UAE is fifth with 7 points from 8 games followed by PNG which has no points after losing all the games it has played so far. Nepal, which is yet to play any game in the ICC CWC League 2, will open its account with its first tri-series and its opening match against Oman on February 5.
The following day, Oman will take on the USA which is expected to be well prepared for the games after a 10-day preparatory camp in Mumbai where it will play some practice games against strong local sides. After a day’s rest, the on-filed action will resume on February 8 with Nepal facing USA and Oman in back to back games in two days. The last round will see the USA taking on host Nepal and Oman on February 11 and 12.
Oman squad: Maqsood (captain), Aqib Ilyas (vice-captain), Jatinder Singh, Khawar Ali, Sanuth Ebrahim, Suraj Kumar, Muhammed Naseem, Sandeep Goud, Muhammed Nadeem, Jay Odedra, Baadal Singh, Ahmed Fayyaz Butt, Kaleemullah, Bilal Khan.
Reserves: Amir Kaleem, Khurram Nawaz Khan, Gopendra Bohara, Ajay Lalcheta.
(with inputs from Oman Cricket)
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