If I am witness to something grow and flourish, it is nothing but cricket in Oman. I was definitely over the moon when the cricket team of Sultanate of Oman attained One-day International status after their exhilarating show in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2.

However, I was dismayed with the climax of the tournament, where a formidable Oman national cricket team was nowhere near the performance which put them on top of the table.

A batting collapse could be attributed to one off-day, but the same happening twice has no explanation and it also reflects may be a tinge complacency that could have crept in after achieving the ODI status.

Starting with a flourish is always complimented with a spectacular finish, but unfortunately that did not happen, and Oman Cricket’s head coach Duleep Mendis must retrospect to correct the anomalies.

My joy of seeing Oman make the ODI cut is overflowing with abundance and I am happy to hear the same from those who have and had been associated with cricket in Oman.

I was with Sunil Joshi, Oman’s spin bowling coach, when the country participated in the World T20 few years ago and it was nice to hear from him after Oman became an ODI playing nation.

Tweeting his joy, former India spinner Sunil Joshi wrote ‘One day international status to team Oman! That’s the way forward. Proud of your achievements. Congratulations to everyone involved. Special mention to Khimji family for striving hard to make this happen #OmanCricket.’

Sunil Joshi is one former coach who expressed his happiness on social media and there certainly would have been many more happy minds out there reveling in joy.

Definitely, I am one of them as I have kept a close watch on Oman Cricket as a scribe and have also been a partner of most of the national team’s progress.

Similar joy was witnessed when Oman became affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000 and later earned the associate status in 2014.

The recent ODI status will remain till 2022 and it is for the national team to perform better and ensure that the status stays forever.

Oman, who won ACC Twenty20 Cup twice, took part in the ICC World Cup qualifiers in 2005 and 2009. I was witness to Oman led by Sultan Ahmed finishing 11th in the 2009 qualifiers held in South Africa, but thereafter it has been a graph moving only one way – towards the sky.

Four years ago, Oman gained Twenty20 International status and qualified for 2016 ICC World Twenty20, playing their first round matches in Dharamsala.

The best moment of the World T20 came when Oman beat Ireland, causing a flutter in world of cricket. That is recorded as Oman’s maiden official international win.

Apart from that the best thing of Oman cricket is the interest shown by nationals to play the game and it is not just a game for expatriates now.

Meanwhile, while mentioning Oman’s growth in cricket, there have been contributions from illustrious names, including many coaches like former India captain and captain Sandeep Patil.

However, the surge must be attributed to former Sri Lanka captain Duleep Mendis, who is now manning the cricket affairs in Oman and is the longest serving coach.

In addition, the game has survived long because of the patronage of Khimji family and many other like-minded business entities.

Kanak Khimji is the chairman of Oman Cricket and Pankaj Khimji has always been the face of Oman Cricket.

With support pouring from all quarters Oman Cricket now boasts of its own infrastructure supported by the national government and have also started hosting international matches of late.

With the T20I status being permanent, the day will not be far when Oman will gain a permanent ODI status as well. 

Meanwhile, it is time to relish the achievement and at the same time the think-tank must ensure that Oman keep scaling greater heights.

Bravo Oman, bravo Oman Cricket.

***
T.K. Mohandoss is the former Sports Editor of Times of Oman