'Hope to train in India to bridge gap between Tests and Associates'

Oman captain Jatinder Singh has called upon India to come forward and help his team bridge the gap between the Test and Associate nations.

Oman gave a good account of themselves in the Asia Cup fixture against India in Abu Dhabi despite ending up on the wrong side of the result. They were playing India for the first time in any format and pushed the world's No.1 T20I team until the very end, eventually going down by 21 runs.

"Well, I think if we can get India coming forward, you know, letting us make their home our home...," Jatinder said when asked what the bigger cricket teams in Asia can do for Oman cricket. "If we can train there, go to the NCAs, train our skill, mental aspects, the fitness part, and play a lot of T20s with the club teams and Ranji teams, I think that will definitely help us and that will fill the gap."

Oman have made World Cup appearances before but this was the first time they were playing in the Asia Cup, which has a rich history going back to the 1980s.

"We are an Associate nation. The reality is we do not get to play with the Test playing nations," Jatinder said. "So we are so, so fortunate that we got this platform to come and play here. And I am so grateful and so proud of the boys, the way they showed up the character in the current situation.

"So I think these kinds of tournaments, if it happens time and again, I think more number of Associates should be included so that they can rub shoulders and get close, fill the gap for what we have between the Test playing nations and the Associate nations.

"Oman players are no less to anyone. We do not get that platform to play in franchise cricket. I think if they get the platform to play in such tournaments, the boys will really benefit from it and they can bring a lot of experience back to Oman and they can train the boys accordingly."

Jatinder also reflected on his team's performance in their final Asia Cup fixture and said he's looking forward to the T20 World Cup qualifiers at home.

"Of course in a game of T20 anything can happen. Any team can beat any team. So I feel the boys had their plans on and they were somewhere there. But I think overall I am so, so pleased with the performance of each and every individual, if you start with the bowling and fielding and batting respectively. I think what we lacked initially was the partnerships which I think showed great character in the crunch game.

"So I am so happy and proud of the unit. And now we have T20 World Cup qualifiers happening in Oman. So the boys are ready to roar."