India vs Oman Asia Cup 2025 Highlights: IND beat OMA by 21 runs in Abu Dhabi

Definitely I'll try from next game (joking about batting higher than No.11). Overall impressive, I feel, Oman played unbelievable brand of cricket. 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).

It was humid and hot out there. Working on my fitness on the last few weeks. We just got a new trainer and did the Bronco test. Good to see I got to spend some time in the middle. They bowled reallt well. Have to give credit to Oman. Bowled well in the powerplay also, were swinging it upfront. I keep backing my strength to stay positive. Any contribution with the bat for your country, you have to take the positives.

More than Rana's Kaleem's wicket has to be attributed to Hardik Pandya. As Kaleem played his behind-the-wicket shots, Hardik, anticipating, took a lovely running catch and made sure he did not touch the boundary either. That wicket definitely is what India needed from here; they should be able to get over the line. However, it has been a superb knock for Kaleem with the bat, and with the ball earlier in the day, he picked up two wickets and made a solid case of becoming Man of the Match for the day. As we update, Hardik Pandya has picked up the wicket of Mirza, who too has scored a timely half-century.

Kaleem has gone past 50 here. It has been a magnificent innings from the opener. He took his time initially, but in the last 15 minutes or so, he has changed gears. As per Mirza, he is going after Kuldeep Yadav here. This is turning out into a cracking chase from Oman. They are ticking all the right boxes in this chase. If India were not concerned before about this defence, now they should be. The way both Kaleem and Mirza are batting here, if they continue to do it for a bit longer, we just might start thinking of a famous upset here.

India is using the part-timers at the moment; both Dube and Tilak are not renowned for their bowling, but they are getting a spell here. Apart from these two, Surya also has the option of Abhishek Sharma, who does bowl a handy left-arm spin. Nevertheless, it is unclear when Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana might get their next game, hence we might see them completing their quotas at least. Apart from those two, the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Hardik Pandya might be preserved for future games.

India has used all their frontline bowlers and is yet to create a breakthrough. Jatinder has been quite smart with his batting. With the new ball against the seamers to negate swing, he batted out of his crease, which forced the seamers to pull their lengths back and go a bit short, and now against the spinners, he is looking to switch-hit regularly and try to upset the lines and lengths of the bowlers. Oman is putting up quite a fight here. Although there were a few false shots induced by the Indian bowlers, their luck was such that it did not carry to the fielders. As we update, Jatinder has chopped one on against Kuldeep Yadav.

Hardik, Arshdeep, and Harshit Rana are being made to work hard for their wickets here. There was a bit of swing in that opening over but after that it did fade away and the seamers had to pull back their lenghts and dig it in a bit short since they have started to do that the scoring has gone a bit slow but Oman as far as the evidence so far the way they have batted it does seem like they just want to bat 20 overs and take things as they come instead of looking to get after the runs and risk themselves getting bundled out for a low total.

We are done with the opening over, and Hardik Pandya did get a bit of swing. He moved a couple away from Jatinder in that over, but nothing extravagant. Arshdeep Singh, who is more of a specialist in swinging the ball, might be able to extract more out of this new ball. We have seen in the first innings that Faisal did manage to get a bit of momen in the air. As per Oman, they need to lay a good foundation in this first over. They need one batter to bat through if they need to have any chance of winning this contest.

Oman (Playing XI): Aamir Kaleem, Jatinder Singh(c), Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla(w), Shah Faisal, Zikria Islam, Aryan Bisht, Mohammad Nadeem, Shakeel Ahmed, Samay Shrivastava, Jiten Ramanandi

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav

Well, Samson did go past half-century, but it was a tired one. Eventually, he dragged a few to get some boundaries away, but the power was just not there behind the shots, and Faisal cleverly slipped a slower one in, which Samson flicked, but once again, the power was not just there, and it ended up straight in the hands of a deep square-leg fielder. India has lost six now and still no Suryakumar Yadav in. The new batter that has walked into the middle is Harshit Rana, who does have the reputation of someone who can bat a bit.

Well Shivam Dube could not make much of an impact here and it is Kaleem again who got the wicket it was a tossed up delivery however, was way outside the off-stump and Dube skied it in the air and skipper at long-off took a simple catch and off the previous bowler Sanju Samson tried to whack one through the leg-side and got the outside edge and ball went high in the air and point fielder tried it but could not take the catch. This is a bit concerning, although India does want to go all guns blazing, they would love someone to take a bit of time in situations like this.

Samson has started well here. He has taken his time initially and is now adjusted to the pace of the surface. It is an important innings from Samson as plenty has been talked about by the people outside of the team despite Samson's good performances as an opener; however, here we are, he has been given an opportunity at three today, and he has to make the most of it. That has been the story of his career when it came to India. In and out of the side constantly, and shuffled positions in the batting order constantly.

That is a good power play for India. Abhishek Sharma, in this tournament, has been quite electric. He has been able to manage to get runs quite quickly in the power play yet again. When a side has an opener like him, the teams are pushed onto the back foot in the powerplay itself, and every time Abhishek manages to get a start like this for India, the rest of the batting gets a little breather to get themselves in and espically in conditions like this where the softer ball is harder to Abhishek's contributions become even more vital.

It was a bit of a casual shot from Shubman Gill trying to drive the ball; however, there was swing and the ball moved back in to rattle Gill's off-stump. The tournament so far has been quite low-key for Gill. The conditions were there for him to get some runs and get into form; however, he would feel that an opportunity was missed. And after the wicket, India has promoted Sanju Samson up the order, which is a good move as the wicket-keeper batter did not get any hits in the tournament so far.

The national anthems are done. Oman needs to get their bowling right, or this score can be anything. We have seen recently England put on 300 runs on the board against South Africa, and if the Indian batting fires on all cylinders, we might see India being able to deliver the same.

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav

We are looking to bat first. We have not batted first in this competition and we want to know our depth. Having game time is important going into the Super 4s. We want to continue the good habits we are doing in the first two games and want to continue to do that. It is looking nice and our openers will assess it further. We have two changes - Harshit comes in, one more guy comes in, I have become like Rohit (laughs).

“He goes everywhere to play matches. When he is not playing for India, whether it is in Delhi or Dehradun or Rajasthan, or Mumbai, wherever there is cricket happening, wherever there is a ground, wherever he can get a chance, Abhishek Sharma goes there to practice. He’s not got the talent, but he is also diligent. The mindset to become a cricketer is most important to him,” Nayar remarked.

“I am all for range hitting. It is all about trying to clear 80 yards if the boundary dimensions are, say, 60 yards. Even mishits will be trained to clear that mark. In range hitting, we measure our distance for shots like the cover drive and off drive, etc., and we try practising that. Power hitting is when you are only trying to muscle the ball,”

“If you follow other sports, you get to know how it feels when the team is performing really well. You see, the best teams are so strong that they have 15-20 players who can start any game. You see how they play against the small teams, how they react, the communication and the final decision-making is so quick. I love to watch them, admire them, watch their communication and connection between them, and how they lift each other.”

In a moment of "earnest lament," coach Biju George reflects on the unpredictable career of his protege, Sanju Samson. Despite Samson's recent success—a century and an 89 off 46 deliveries while battling a high fever in the Kerala Cricket League—George offers an intriguing perspective. He suggests that the current Sanju Samson, the one captivating fans with his skill, is not the same "11-year-old wonderkid from Pulluvila" he first discovered, hinting at a change or a shift in the player's journey since his early days. (Read more from Lalith Kalidas)

The Asia Cup 2025 match between India and Oman in Abu Dhabi is expected to be played under challenging conditions, with hot and humid weather and temperatures starting around 36-40°C before dropping to the high 20s at night. The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium is considered balanced, offering something for both batsmen and bowlers. It is known to be good for batting, but pacers may get some early assistance, and spinners are expected to become more influential as the game progresses and the pitch dries out. The possibility of dew later in the evening could also make chasing a favorable option.

“I would like to think that India would consider batting first and keep the same opening pair. Maybe number three, Suryakumar Yadav, the skipper, could drop himself down the order, giving Tilak Verma a chance for some time at the crease and allowing Sanju Samson a bit of a hit as well,” Gavaskar said during an interaction on the Sony Sports network.

“If you don’t play, you learn a lot and you become a better player. When the team reacts to situations, you can judge from the outside and you get a lot of ideas on how to react and how to bowl.” He admitted it was tough to sit inside, but he did not brood about his fate. “You have to think about where you are weak and work on those.”

Aamir Kaleem, Jatinder Singh (c), Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Wasim Ali, Hassnain Shah, Shah Faisal, Aryan Bisht, Shakeel Ahmed, Samay Shrivastava, Jiten Ramanandi

Hello and welcome to our live blog of India taking on Oman. Although it is a dead rubber, India has an opportunity to try and test their bench strength ahead of the crucial stage of the tournament. As per Oman, they have had quite an underwhelming campaign so far and will be hoping to put on a performance in their final game of the Asia Cup this time around.