Sri Lanka will begin their preparations for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a two-match series against Oman, starting in Al Amerat, Muscat today.
The first match will be played as a day game at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground while the second T20 will be played on Saturday under lights.
This match will be of great significance as this is the first time that the two nations are meeting in any format of cricket.
Oman, coached by former Sri Lankan great Duleep Mendis will have two star players who are among the top 10 in the ICC T20 Player Rankings for all-rounders.
Khawar Ali is currently ranked in fourth place while Zeeshan Maqsood is in eighth place in the all-rounders list.
Oman recently concluded back-to-back ICC WCL 2 ODI Tri-Series and Coach Mendis said that ‘the players got good practice and are capable of switching into the T20 groove quickly’. For Sri Lanka, all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga is the highest ranked player having moved to second place in the list for T20 bowlers. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will start the series in 12th place in the ICC T20 Team Rankings while Oman are further down in 18th place. However, Sri Lanka Skipper Dasun Shanaka stressed the fact that Oman have come up in the ICC Rankings purely by playing against Associated Member countries.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Head Coach Mickey Arthur said on twitter:
“We are very pleased to be here and thank you for having us. The facilities have been excellent and we are looking forward to the practice games.”
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