India vs Oman, Asia Cup 2025: A Low-Stakes Match With High Utility

<strong>Karan Pradhan</strong> analyses a predictable contest that could still prove valuable as India could consider resting key players and giving fresh faces a run before Sunday’s big one against Pakistan.

Suryakumar Yadav and his team will be expected to sweep aside their opponents with a great deal of ease.

A BY-THE-NUMBERS WIN over the UAE for Pakistan and a gripping Sri Lanka-Afghanistan game that saw the Islanders triumph means we now have our final four teams etched in stone: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In the first game, Pakistan stumbled at the start as their openers failed yet again, before putting up an eminently defendable 146. In reply, the hosts were bowled out for 105. The second match was a strange one that saw a temporary cessation of hostilities between Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan fans, united in the knowledge that an Afghan defeat would see both ‘Naagin’ rivals proceed to the Super 4s. Despite Mohammed Nabi’s five sixes off the last over of the Afghanistan innings, Sri Lanka held their nerve and completed an ultimately comfortable six-wicket win.

HEAD TO HEAD

This will be the first time India play Oman in any form of the game, so there isn’t much of a track record to parse. So while it will be a new experience for both sides, the outcome is virtually a foregone conclusion: Suryakumar Yadav and his team will be expected to sweep aside their opponents with a great deal of ease.

For Oman, exposure to the ‘bigger’ tournaments and more difficult opposition is part of the learning curve, but it’s going to be a bumpy one. And one of the biggest bumps in that road will be tackling the batting, bowling and (most of the time) fielding proficiency that India will throw at them on Friday evening. But coach Duleep Mendis and captain Jatinder Singh will do well to learn the lessons from their first encounter with India, to make sure that the second (whenever in the future it takes place) goes off better.

THE BIG STORY AND SOME SUBPLOTS

‘Will India rotate?’ is the biggest story surrounding the final match of the T20 Asia Cup group stage. The likes of Arshdeep Singh, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma have yet to feature in the tournament, and this dead rubber against Oman might be just the place to test their respective mettle. That said, and as the old adage goes, ‘if it ain’t broke, why fix it?’ and it’s perfectly plausible that the Indian brain trust might see fit to avoid making too many changes and tinkering with a formula that seems to be serving the team well. However, Jasprit Bumrah (whose workload was managed in the recent Test series in England) might have earned himself a handy rest with a berth possibly opening up for Arshdeep.

Gear up for India vs Oman! Check out the match preview here.

Should a more-or-less similar combination be deployed, it presents a great opportunity to finetune a few things before the next phase of the tourney. For instance, the Indian batters thus far have made hay in the proverbial sunshine, but less is known about the middle-order’s resilience and effectiveness. Similarly, Hardik Pandya has performed well with the new ball, but what’s the Plan B if he fails to deliver? These are the sort of wrinkles India will seek to iron out in the Oman match.

Spectators will be hoping India opt to bat first and pile on a huge score, because the likelihood of Oman lasting 20 overs against Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy and Co seems low. Equally low are the chances of India not smashing the required runs at breakneck pace. The match, under these circumstances, could be over rather quickly.

Finally, with the Super 4s decided, it means India and Pakistan will be facing each other again on Sunday. On one hand, it is hoped that the match is a bit more competitive than last week’s ho-hum affair, and on the other, it is hoped that cricket (rather than any unsavoriness) dominates the headlines in the wake of that match. How it all shakes out though is something we’ll have to wait and see. Until then, there’s the small matter of the match against Oman to negotiate.

Karan Pradhan is editor-in-chief of Story Mode a gaming and gaming-adjacent magazine. Follow him on X/Twitter @karanpradhan_

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