Friday 20 / February / 2026
New Delhi: Following Oman's disappointing T20 World Cup campaign, which saw them exit the tournament without any wins, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan said that for them to grow and compete at the highest level, they have to improve results and should take inspiration from Italy and Nepal, who had plenty of optimistic moments in their campaign.
Oman slipped to their 10th successive ICC T20 World Cup loss, the joint-most by any team in the history of the tournament, as a wounded Australian team crushed them by nine-wickets in a dead-rubber match following their early exit from the tournament. Since their win over Papua New Guinea in the 2021 edition, they have slipped to 10 successive losses in the tournament across the 2021, 2024 and 2026 editions, failing to win any match in the latter two editions.
Taking to their X handle, Irfan said, "If Oman national cricket team truly want to grow and compete at the highest level, the results have to improve. The Asia Cup campaign was disappointing, and stretching back to 2021, this marks their 10th consecutive World Cup loss. That says a lot about where they currently stand in international cricket. They can learn a lot from Italy & Nepal's World Cup campaign."
https://x.com/IrfanPathan/status/2024879927502491967
While Nepal and Italy had only one win in their campaigns, they could take back home some positives, such as both of them scaring the two-time champions, England.
England edged past Nepal by four runs while defending 185 runs, courtesy a Sam Curran masterclass in the last over, and Italy also came really close to chasing 202 against England, falling short at 178 runs. While Italy got a win over Nepal, Nepal managed to get a win over Scotland.
