Asia Cup: India Captain's Gesture Wins Hearts After Oman's Pakistan-Born Players Impress Khaleej Times

Amid the raging row over the handshake controversy in the India-Pakistan Asia Cup match last Sunday, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav's gesture won hearts following India's 21-run win over the Gulf team in the previous group stage game of the tournament in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

After India's no-handshake stance against Pakistan threw the tournament into chaos, Suryakumar sharing cricket tips with members of the Oman squad, including the team's Pakistan-born players - Aamir Kaleem, Hammad Mirza, Mohammad Nadeem, Shakeel Ahmed and Shah Faisal - made headlines.

Oman put up a spirited fight against India, losing the match by only 21 runs as the Jatinder Singh-led team finished on 167 for four while chasing 189.

Jatinder was all praise for Suryakumar, known for his versatile shot-making in the T20 format, after the match.

“Surya spoke about the game and praised us, which means a lot. Our boys had questions on how to play in different phases of the T20 game. It was really nice to have a chat with him,” the Oman captain said.

Oman, an associate team, played superb cricket against the reigning T20 world champions, as Pakistan-born players, Kaleem (64 off 46 balls) and number three Hammad Mirza (51 off 33 balls), scored fantastic half-centuries.

While they couldn't quite bring the asking rate under control, their assured batting display impressed the Indian team, especially skipper Suryakumar.

“Oman played an unbelievable brand of cricket. Knowing their coach (Sri Lankan legend Duleep Mendis), I knew there would be something from them,” the Indian captain said.

“It was amazing. I really enjoyed watching them bat.”

Even Oman's bowling effort was impressive, as only Sanju Samson (56 off 45 balls) managed to score a half-century for India.

Left-arm pacer Shah Faisal, who was born in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, delivered an outstanding performance - 4-1-23-2 -for Oman.

“They bowled really well, have to give them credit for the way they bowled and batted,” Samson said.

“They bowled well in the power play, they were swinging the ball up front.”

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