Oman, who will be co-hosting the ICC T20 World Cup along with the UAE later this year, have expressed their desire to host Mumbai in a series of T20 matches ahead of the world event, which starts from October 17.
It is understood that Oman’s chief development officer Duleep Mendis pushed the proposal for the series to be held in the second half of August.
“On behalf of Oman Cricket, we would like to invite the Mumbai Cricket team to play matches against Oman’s national cricket team.
As we understand that both teams are currently preparing for the upcoming season, it will be an excellent opportunity for the players to get some quality practice just before the commencement of the season,”
Mendis said in a letter according to ANI.
The Oman board is waiting for a response from Mumbai Cricket Association, who are likely to discuss the proposal in a meeting this week.
“It’s still just on the table, we are awaiting further details and guidelines before we can consider the proposal. It is a good opportunity to play a few pre-season games before the domestic season kicks off.”
an MCA official quoted to ESPNcricinfo.
Oman are yet to get any cricketing action on the field since the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world in March 2020. Until now, they have organised some camps and intra-squad matches to prepare for the T20 WC, which will be their second consecutive appearance at the event.
In the previous edition held in India in 2016, Oman had defeated Ireland to register their first win at the world event.
This time around, Oman are placed in Group B of the qualifying phase of the WC alongside Bangladesh, Scotland and Papua New Guinea. The qualifying round will take place in Muscat from October 17. Oman will need to finish in the top 2 in Group B to progress to the Super 12 round of the tournament.
If the series between Oman and Mumbai goes ahead, it will boost Oman’s WC preparation. India’s One-Day Domestic champions will be without the services of their IPL-bound star players, including Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw.
Mumbai, playing under the new coach Amol Mazumdar, will have a chance to test their depth ahead of the domestic T20 season of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, starting in September.
