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India have already secured qualification to the Super four stage in Asia Cup 2025 and will look to maintain their dominant run when they face Oman in their final Group A clash at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday evening. The match starts at 8:00 PM IST and marks the first-ever meeting between these two nations in any format of international cricket.
This encounter represents a historic milestone as India and Oman will be meeting for the first time in international cricket. While India have already booked their spot in the Super Four with victories over UAE and Pakistan this becomes a dead rubber fixture as Oman have been eliminated after consecutive defeats to Pakistan by 93 runs and UAE by 42 runs. Suryakumar Yadav‘s men have been the tournament’s most dominant force registering comprehensive wins in their opening two matches with four points from two games and an impressive net run rate of +4.793.
India seek to keep the momentum going on for Super four stage
India enter this fixture riding high on momentum with captain Suryakumar in excellent form scoring an unbeaten 47 off 37 balls against Pakistan. His T20I captaincy record remains outstanding with 20 wins in 24 matches reflecting an 83.33% success rate. Key performers include opening batter Abhishek Sharma who has scored 61 runs in two matches at a strike rate of 210.34 while Kuldeep Yadav has been India’s leading wicket-taker with seven wickets in two matches at an average of 3.57. The team management may use this opportunity to give valuable game time to middle-order batters including Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel who are yet to be properly tested. There are indications that Arshdeep Singh could feature in place of Jasprit Bumrah.
Oman’s maiden Asia Cup campaign has been challenging with the Jatinder Singh-led side suffering heavy defeats in both their outings. Despite elimination this fixture provides Oman with a significant opportunity to showcase their abilities against the world’s top-ranked T20I team. The team showed fighting spirit against Pakistan with Shah Faisal taking 3/34 and Aamir Kaleem claiming 3/31 though their batting has struggled significantly.
Sheikh Zayed Stadium Pitch Report:
The Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch in Abu Dhabi offers a balanced surface with good pace and bounce in the early stages, making it favourable for batting at the start of matches. As the game progresses, the pitch tends to slow down, allowing spinners and slower bowlers to come into play, often making stroke play challenging during the later overs. The average first-innings T20I score at this venue is typically around 136-140, but chasing teams have had a slight edge, winning more often than sides batting first. While powerplay overs see the ball coming nicely onto the bat, grip and turn for spinners increase under lights, especially in the second innings. Such conditions encourage a balanced team composition—with both seamers and spinners likely to play important roles on this surface.
T20I Stats and Records at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi:
- Total Matches: 96
- Matches won batting first: 44
- Matches won bowling first: 52
- Average 1st innings Score: 137
- Average 2nd innings Score: 124
- Highest total recorded: 225/7 (20 Ov) by IRE vs AFG
- Lowest total recorded: 54/10 (17.5 Ov) by USAW vs THAIW
- Lowest score defended: 174/2 (17.4 Ov) by RSA vs IRE
- Lowest score defended: 93/8 (20 Ov) by THAIW vs PNGW
Squads:
India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jitesh Sharma, Rinku Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana
Oman: Aamir Kaleem, Jatinder Singh (c), Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla(w), Wasim Ali, Hassnain Shah, Shah Faisal, Jiten Ramanandi, Aryan Bisht, Shakeel Ahmed, Samay Shrivastava, Mohammad Nadeem, Sufyan Mehmood, Karan Sonavale, Ashish Odedara, Mohammad Imran, Zikria Islam, Nadeem Khan, Sufyan Yousaf
Also READ: Asia Cup 2025: Can Pakistan beat India in Super Four clash? Answers Salman Agha
