Oman Confident Ahead Of Clash Against Australia
In a presser Oman’s Captain Aqib Ilyas said “Our head coach has decided that we won’t even be mentioning the name of a single Australian player in our dressing-room as we prepare for the match.”
Aqib continued that our coach, former srilankan player, Daleep Mendis told us that dn’t keep the opposition’s team stature on mind just focus on your strength. It will be the first time that Oman is going to face Australia in an international cricket match.
In the press talk one got the impression that the young Oman team doesn’t consider team Australia as a challenge. It’s quite strange and amazing at the same time that a nation with nascent cricket history is not overawed by the formidable opposition,
It was a lively press conference from the captain of an associate nation. Lively was it in terms of expecting something unrealistic from his team, but at the same time it felt like there was lack of due veneration for the strong Australian side.
It is not the first time that the captain of an associate team has made such a press conference that the opponent team would have more pressure than us. Sialkot born star batter for Oman had a frank disregard for the norms. He rather played down the significance of the event. He meant every word of his to not let Aussie aura dampen his team’s spirit before the game.
Ilyas said that he has faced much more fierce challenges in his life than taking up a strong cricket team. Some years ago he was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. But luckily for him the tumor was in its initial stage. Still, he had to undergo a surgery after which Ilyas had to go through 18 month long rehab. All this time he was on clutches.
A reporter asked Ilyas how the young Oman side is going to face the might of Australian team which has world class player. The captain minced no words and replied
“Once you step onto the field there are no big names, there’s no one bigger than you on the field. It’s another game for us. And we don’t think we are going to play something extraordinary. It’s just a team on the same level as what we are doing. They have done the same as what we are doing – we have qualified, they have qualified, it doesn’t make much difference. We respect them of course,”
The Aussie Player won’t be discussed in dressing room as it might creat a mental block in players’ mind. However, the did discuss playing the likes of Mitchell Starch well so that they could be recognized on a bigger level.
Ilyas mind set was unfolded when he spoke about his mind set looking at the Australian team in this T20 world cup.
Many cricket followers and analysts would dismiss Aqib’s comments as nothing but just a hype created by a minnow team captain to encourage his team that they have a chance to win even if they don’t.
A question was asked whether the Spin reliant attack could challenge the Australian team or not. Oman’s captain replied “You see how the ball was turning in the last match. The ball was staying low. With the Australian team, they used to have a few players with good techniques in the past like Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. But I don’t think they have many now. They look to hit big. They only try to go for sixes. But every day is not the same day, and if we get the same wicket (as the one against Namibia) maybe it could be a problem for them. The answer was met with amusement and astonishment in the presser.
He alluded to the match between the West Indies and the PNG that how the strong West Indies had a tough time hitting big shots. Sometimes the ball was taking unusual spin and at times keeping low. If we get the same pitch, who knows what might be the result.
Ilyas mad mad memorable comments at the last of the Press Conference. he was asked, after the game is over whether the Bane on using Australian players names in the dressing room would be lifted. after the game, will his place between to chat with the likes of Stark Maxwell. Aqib replied “It depends how the game goes. It might happen that they might be taking our names. We respect them a lot as a team. But before the game, it’s tactical to not get overawed by them. After the game, of course there are great players in their side, and we can learn a lot from them. But maybe even they might be able to learn something from us.”
The Oman’s captain made his intentions very clear. let’s see what happens on the Wednesday night In Barbados