Saturday 08 / August / 2026
MUSCAT: Oman head coach Sulakshan Kulkarni believes the five-match white-ball series against the visiting India’s Goa Ranji Trophy squad will provide the perfect platform to assess his players and fine-tune combinations ahead of two major international assignments.
The Goa state team will arrive in Oman for a five-match tour from August 10 to 17, featuring two T20 matches and three 50-over contests against the Oman national team.
The series will serve as an important preparation phase for Oman ahead of the ACC Premier Cup 2026 in August-September in Malaysia and the remaining two legs of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, beginning with a tri-series at home in October and concluding with a tri-series in the UAE in December.
Photo: Sulakhsan Kulkarni, Oman head coach
Describing the series as a vital “checklist” and exposure opportunity, Kulkarni said the matches would help the team management identify the players who fit into Oman’s plans for the upcoming challenges.
"This is the checklist and exposure series for us, so we will try to check the players whom we're looking for,"* Kulkarni said.
"This will help us build the team for the upcoming ACC Premier Cup and the remaining two League 2 series. Goa is a good team and did well in white-ball cricket in India. They have quite a few experienced players and I'm sure it will be a great series."
The series will also mark the first major assignment for Vinayak Shukla as Oman captain after succeeding long-serving skipper Jatinder Singh, who continues to remain an important part of the national setup.
Shukla’s leadership will be closely watched as Oman look to build momentum before resuming their World Cup qualification campaign and competing for honours in the ACC Premier Cup.
The inclusion of both T20 and 50-over matches in the tour will allow Oman to test their squad depth across formats.
Oman, currently fourth in the eight-nation ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, need to finish among the top four to advance to the final round qualifier of the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Kulkarni’s men have 31 points from 28 games and have eight more games to play. USA top the table with 43 points (32 games) and are followed by Scotland (39 pts from 33 games) and the Netherlands (38 from 32 games). Namibia are fifth (28 from 31 games) and are followed by Canada (25 from 31 games), Nepal (24 from 32 games) and the UAE (16 from 26 games).
The series against Oman will also provide valuable match practice for the visitors ahead of the 2026-27 Indian domestic season in October. This will be Goa’s first overseas exposure tour in 14 years, with their previous international trip coming in 2012 when the senior men’s team travelled to South Africa.
Former India all-rounder Dinesh Mongia will guide Goa as head coach. He brings considerable international experience to the role, having represented India in 57 ODIs and was part of the Indian squad that reached the final of the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup. He had earlier coached Goa during the 2024-25 season, when the side topped the Plate Division and secured promotion to the Elite Group.
The five matches will be played at Oman Cricket Academy, with all games streamed live on the Oman Cricket YouTube channel.
Oman vs Goa series schedule:
T20 matches: August 10 and 11: 6.30pm.
50-over matches (2.30pm start): August 13, 15, 17.
Oman T20 squad: Vinayak Shukla (captain), Jatinder Singh, Hassnain Wahab, Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali (vice-captain), Jiten Ramanandi, Zikria Islam, Karan Sonawale, Shakeel Ahmad, Nadeem Khan, Shah Faisal, Hasnain Ali Shah, Muzahir Raza, Sanju Sajeev, Siddharth
Oman 50-over squad: Shukla (captain/wicketkeeper), Jatinder, Wahab, Mirza, Ramanandi, Wasim, Shakeel, Nadeem, Muhammed Imran, Shah Faisal, Hasnain Ali Shah, Siddharth, Jay Odedara, Raza, Sajeev, Saishiv Narayan, Aryan Bisht, Mohammed Eisa, Samay Shrivastava, Jeet Shah.
Goa squad: Manthan Khutkar, Darshan Misal, Mohit Redkar, Deepraj Gaonkar, Heramb Parab, Vikash, Chigurupati Venkata, Abhinav Tejrana, Snehal Kauthankar, Yash Kasvankar, Shivendra Bhujbal, Suyash Prabhudessai, Sanath Nevagi, Chittem Jeevankumar, Felix Alemao, Kaushik V.
