Even supplicant pleas of “We want Surya,” from a frenzied section of the Indian fans fell on deaf ears as Kuldeep Yadav walked in at the fall of the eighth wicket, with Suryakumar Yadav cooling his heels in the dugout.
This Indian T20I set-up doesn’t believe in filling their boots, and the mindset reflected the skipper’s decision to use a dead-rubber against Oman here at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in the final group stage match of the Asia Cup on Friday as a high-intensity practice session ahead of a high-voltage clash against Pakistan on Sunday.
Oman, though, didn’t let India off the hook without giving it a mighty scare. After a 56-run first-wicket partnership between captain Jatinder Singh and Aamir Kaleem, Oman turned the screws in the 15th over, with Kaleem reaching his 38-ball fifty with a cracking six over wide long-on off Shivam Dube.
Hammad Mirza turned up the heat from the other end with successive sixes off India’s spin wizard Kuldeep Yadav. With Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana looking rusty with the ball, Kaleem and Mirza picked four more boundaries in the next two overs to bring the equation down to 40 needed off 16 balls.
The otherwise carefree but athletic Hardik Pandya had to stretch every nerve and sinew to pouch a catch at fine-leg while tip-toeing inside the boundary rope to see the back of Kaleem. Hardik delivered as a bowler in the next over, removing Mirza, before Arshdeep celebrated his much-awaited 100th T20I scalp with the wicket of Vinayak Shukla.
With 34 runs needed off the last over, Oman eventually fell short by 21 runs.
RELATED | IND VS OMA SCORECARD
Earlier, there was irony in store for India, which lost Hardik and Arshdeep to unfortunate run-outs at the non-striker’s end while trying to maximise game time for its batters. The top-scorer, Sanju Samson, wasn’t at his fluent best during his scratchy 45-ball 56, and Shubman Gill was undone by an in-swinger from left-arm quick Shah Faisal that lit up the bails.
Starved of any crease time in the first two games, Samson, dropped on 44, reached his half-century with an outside edge that trickled to the third-man boundary. A crowd favourite in this part of the world, the Kerala batter half-raised his bat to acknowledge his fans but kept his head down, his frame betraying disappointment and exhaustion.
Oman’s Aamir Kaleem scored a 38-ball fifty to sustain Oman’s push for an upset win against India.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Oman’s Aamir Kaleem scored a 38-ball fifty to sustain Oman’s push for an upset win against India.
| Photo Credit:
AP
But Samson had his moments on a surface that assisted the bowlers. He looked all at sea in the PowerPlay, with Faisal making the ball move into him prodigiously, but found his bearings with a six over midwicket when the left-arm quick strayed too straight and full.
Abhishek Sharma didn’t take long to find his stride, smashing Shakeel Ahmed’s left-arm spin for two fours and a six in the third over. His placement and power down the ground were on display when he first cleared wide long-on and then deposited the ball straighter in the ‘V’ to beat the fielder.
AS IT HAPPENED | IND VS OMA HIGHLIGHTS
Against medium-pacer Mohammad Nadeem, Abhishek showcased his range on the off-side, languidly carving the ball over point and then slashing one wide outside off. When Abhishek pumped the ball over long-off to end the PowerPlay, India had 60 on the board, with Samson on 13 off 14 balls.
It sometimes appears as though Abhishek collects the ‘invincibility star’ when he starts his innings, blazing through obstacles with impunity that last only till the PowerPlay, like in the iconic Super Mario Bros game. It was a similar tale against Oman, when he was caught behind, slashing wide outside off in the eighth over to walk back for an impactful 15-ball 38.
Samson continued his stodgy innings, sometimes mistiming and sometimes losing shape, but held one end up even as the others swung their arms and left. Axar Patel struck a breezy cameo, and Tilak Varma scrapped and scuffled to an 18-ball 29 after scuffing a few sweeps and reverse-sweeps.
An innings that lacked sustained rhythm and momentum was punctuated by a six off Harshit Rana’s willow, but India already had enough on the board by then.
Published on Sep 20, 2025