MUSCAT: Bringing ICC T20 World Cup to Oman will help young players in the country take an interest in the game, according to cricket legend and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly.

Speaking exclusively to The Arabian Stories in an interview, the former India captain said Oman has “great cricketing facilities” to host the global tournament. “It’s good to get Oman in the frame of world cricket. By hosting this tournament (T20 World Cup), it will help a lot of young players take an interest in the game. I am amazed at the facilities here and must credit Mr. Pankaj Khimji (OC Chairman) and his team for developing the game. They have the capabilities to host a world class event in this part of the world,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly was in Muscat on Friday to inspect the grounds and to discuss important issues regarding the tournament. The official groupings for the World Cup was also announced in a special ceremony held at Oman Cricket Academy in Al Amerat. “BCCI is the organiser of this tournament,” Ganguly clarified. “To host T20 World Cup in India is a challenge due to the pandemic and hence we decided to move to Oman and UAE,” he explained.

When asked if spectators would be allowed to witness the showpiece event in Muscat, Ganguly had this to say: “It’s too early to talk about it. We are discussing with the local government to see if that is practically possible or not. These are challenging times. We will wait and watch.”

The former India captain, popularly known as Dada and Prince of Kolkata was instrumental in taking Indian cricket to great heights during his tenure. Ganguly is India’s third-highest run-scorer in the ODIs, with a tally of 11,163 runs, including 22 centuries and 72 half-centuries.