Pitches for T20 World Cup will be low and slow: Secretary of Oman Cricket
Due to the surge of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in India, the ICC had previously confirmed that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 will be held in the UAE and Oman. The matches are scheduled to be played at Dubai International Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy Ground, from 17 October to 14 November 2021.
Cricket hasn’t spread its roots quite well in Oman yet. But in the recent past, the steady growth of the sport has made cricket the second popular game after football. Now with them hosting such a high-profile event, it will be instrumental to attract the fans and take the sport further in the country.
Expressing his feelings on the same, Madhu Jesrani, the secretary of Oman Cricket said, “The popularity of cricket has increased. It has now become the second sport behind football in schools and colleges. Hosting the T20 will be a big boost for us as the local team (Oman) will also be playing in it, and it will help to create more fan base in cricket.”
Madhu Jesrani on the golden opportunity of hosting an ICC event
“Hosting an ICC event is beyond our dreams. We are receiving full support from the Oman government, and our priority is to deliver the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 safely,” said Jesrani.
Notably, Oman hasn’t hosted any international cricket apart from the games of the associate members and they will have to make some tweaks to meet the requirements of the ICC.
Opening up what kind of surfaces will be provided to the team, he said, “It will be like sub-continent pitches. You can say that it might help the spinners. We don’t have stadiums; we have got two grounds. On one ground, we have two dressing rooms. On the other ground, construction is underway. Apart from that, the floodlights are also not of a high standard, and we will have to upgrade the lighting. Also, the scoreboards are small and we need to change that as well, and there will be a live TV screen, too.”
