Suryakumar Yadav’s India National Cricket Team faced off against the Oman National Cricket Team in their final Group Stage match of the Asia Cup 2025.
It was the first-ever meeting between India and Oman in any format and the game was hosted by the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday, September 19.
Suryakumar Yadav skips batting
India won the toss and opted to bat first in the match. They were off to a slow start as the bowlers were able to keep Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill quiet.
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The vice-captain got out for 5 in the second over itself and Sanju Samson was promoted to No.3, scoring 56 runs off 45 balls and finishing as India’s leading run-getter.
Abhishek Sharma once again showed fireworks and slammed a quickfire 38 runs off 15 balls. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube were dismissed for single-digit scores but Axar Patel (26 off 13) and Tilak Varma (29 off 18) also played explosive innings to help India post 188/8 on the board.
Notably, skipper Suryakumar Yadav didn’t come out to bat in the innings despite India losing 8 wickets and was slammed by fans for this move.
India beat Oman by 21 runs in a thriller
Defending the total, India adopted a casual approach and Suryakumar Yadav used eight different bowling options. At the start, Oman’s batting was slow, but they suddenly accelerated and gave a massive scare to India.
Aamir Kaleem (64) and Hammad Mirza (51) hit brilliant half-centuries and took Oman close to winning, before Hardik Pandya took a game-changing catch to dismiss the former. After that, India bounced back and restricted Oman to 167/4 to clinch a 21-run victory.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that he would try to bat up the order in the next match against Pakistan. He also lauded Oman and said:
“Definitely I’ll try from next game (on batting up the order). Overall impressive, I feel, Oman played unbelievable brand of cricket.”
I knew with their coach, Sulu sir (Sulakshan Kulkarni), there will be khadoosness – Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav added that he was expecting a fight from Oman because of the presence of Mumbai legend Sulakshan Kulkarni in camp. He also talked about Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya during the chat with Sanjay Manjrekar. He said:
“I knew with their coach, Sulu sir (Sulakshan Kulkarni), there will be khadoosness. It was amazing, really enjoyed watching them bat. It’s a little difficult when you’re sitting and suddenly you come out and play (talking about Arshdeep and Harshit).
“It’s so humid here. Unfortunate how he got out but you can’t keep him away from the game (talking about Hardik Pandya), the way he bowled and the way he got out. All set for Super Fours (when asked about the Sunday clash).”
Also Read: Watch: Axar Patel suffers serious head injury in Asia Cup 2025 match vs Oman
