Oman has been one of the cricketing countries on the rise in recent times. The head coach of the team currently is Duleep Mendis. Duleep Mendis is a name synonymous with Sri Lanka cricket. There is no role he has not fulfilled pertaining to his country’s cricket. From being a fad as a schoolboy cricketer to club cricket and then his country, Mendis is indeed a household name wherever cricket in Sri Lanka is spoken.
Amid this historic moment of Oman hosting the WT20 the fast rising Associate nation, the Oman Cricket (OC) boss will take a moment to think of his father Kanaksi Khimji, who passed away in February aged 85. Known locally as ‘the godfather of cricket’, Kanaksi was the driving force behind OC becoming formally established in 1979 with the support of the Oman royal family.
This Gulf nation has been rising on-and-off the cricket field through the influential and well-heeled Khimji family. Kanaksi’s grandfather Ramdas Thackersey came to Oman 150 years ago from India to trade grain, tea and spices in the bustling port of Muscat. That was the start of their relation with India and their obsession with Cricket as a sport.
Their strength has always been their batting because they have a solid line up, but it has been the bowlers who are doing it. They have a fairly balanced side with three to four pace bowlers, which can be rated as the best pace attack amongst the Associates. They have a good leg-spinner, two left-arm spinners and an off-spinner and are covered all round. They have about four to five all-rounders in the side so that helps them a lot because it is easy for them to balance the side
Apart from helping Oman build their cricket infrastructure, Mendis has also been responsible for the rise of Oman’s national cricket team. Oman’s aim is to finish in the top three of the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two 2019-22 which would give them automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup in India. The way in which they are progressing right now, they may soon reach there too.
