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Following Oman's disappointing T20 World Cup campaign, which saw them exit the tournament without any wins, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan said that for them to grow and compete at the highest level, they have to improve results and should take inspiration from Italy and Nepal, who had plenty of optimistic moments in their campaign.
Oman slipped to their 10th successive ICC T20 World Cup loss, the joint-most by any team in the history of the tournament, as a wounded Australian team crushed them by nine-wickets in a dead-rubber match following their early exit from the tournament. Since their win over Papua New Guinea in the 2021 edition, they have slipped to 10 successive losses in the tournament across the 2021, 2024 and 2026 editions, failing to win any match in the latter two editions. Taking to their X handle, Irfan said, "If Oman national cricket team truly want to grow and compete at the highest level, the results have to improve. The Asia Cup campaign was disappointing, and stretching back to 2021, this marks their 10th consecutive World Cup loss. That says a lot about where they currently stand in international cricket. They can learn a lot from Italy & Nepal's World Cup campaign." https://x.com/IrfanPathan/status/2024879927502491967 While Nepal and Italy had only one win in their campaigns, they could take back home some positives, such as both of them scaring the two-time champions, England. England edged past Nepal by four runs while defending 185 runs, courtesy a Sam Curran masterclass in the last over, and Italy also came really close to chasing 202 against England, falling short at 178 runs. While Italy got a win over Nepal, Nepal managed to get a win over Scotland. Oman has statistically been the worst team in this T20 World Cup across various parameters, with their average runs per wicket being 11.94 (as compared to the tournament aggregate of 24.46), their run rate was 6.28 as compared to the tournament aggregate of 8.52, and they lost a wicket every 11.4 balls, as compared to 17.2 balls, which is the tournament aggregate. While bowling, their bowling average is a woeful 55.33 (almost 30 runs higher than the tournament aggregate of 25.89), their bowling strike rate is also a poor 31.4, as compared to the overall aggregate of 18.4, and their economy rate is 10.53, as compared to the overall aggregate of 8.42. Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first. Wasim Ali (32 in 33 balls, with four boundaries) was the only batter to cross the 20-run mark as the rest of the batters barely offered any resistance against an Aussie attack wounded by an early exit from the tournament. The Aussies were out for blood, skittling out Oman for 104 in 16.2 overs, with Glenn Maxwell (2/13 in three overs), pacer Xavier Bartlett (2/27 in four overs) being amongst the thick of action. Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Ellis also got a wicket each. In the chase, skipper Mitchell Marsh (64* in 33 balls, with seven fours and four sixes) and Travis Head (32 in 19 balls, with six fours) bludgeoned the bowling attack, chasing down the target in 9.4 overs with nine wickets in hand. (ANI)
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