Oman coach confident of success in ACC Trophy Elite

Oman national coach Mazhar Saleem Khan is confident of his team doing well in the ACC Trophy Elite 2010 after a string of memorable performances in recent times.

The team won the ACC Trophy Challenge 2009 held in Chiang Mai, Thailand and was a semi-finalist in the ACC Twenty20 Cup 2009 in UAE after remaining unbeaten in the group stages. It was also a joint winner with Afghanistan in the ACC Twenty20 Cup 2007 held in Kuwait and was declared runners-up in Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 held in Namibia the same year, although it missed out on a place at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

Ahead of the event, the team attended a training camp where 44 probables participated and 18 players short listed after two weeks of intensive training. The camp was held four days a week and two practice matches of 50 overs a side against a select XI were organized. Players were subject to physical fitness, cricket skills and mental toughness training during this duration.

Khan said: "Taking our preparations and the form of our key players into consideration, we are confident to do well in the tournament. The team looks in great shape and is looking forward to the event. We will put in a team effort and Hemin Desai, Sultan Ahmed, Vaibhav Wategaonkar, Adnan Ilyas, Haider Ali and Aamir Ali will be expected to perform well."

The ACC Trophy Elite runs from 31 March to 9 April 2010 in Kuwait with ten countries taking part. Oman has been placed in group A of the event along with Hong Kong, Kuwait, Nepal and Singapore while group B consists of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bhutan, Malaysia and UAE.