Tigers reach Oman for T20 World Cup

The Bangladesh national cricket team has arrived in Oman to participate in the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, despite airline disruptions due to tropical Cyclone Shaheen.

A flight carrying the Tigers, led by skipper Mohammad Mahmudullah, landed at Muscat International Airport around 4 am local time on Monday.

The cyclone killed four people when it slammed into Oman on Sunday with ferocious winds and heavy rain, flooding streets, prompting evacuations from coastal areas and delaying flights to and from the capital, Muscat, reported Reuters.

The players are scheduled to stay in quarantine for one day and will start practicing from Tuesday. According to skipper Mahmudullah, the Tigers are prepared to give it their all in the World Cup. 

"If we manage to win the qualifying matches and head into the main draw, we will try to win as many matches as possible. Since we don't have fond memories of previous World Cups, we will try to improve our record. You never know what can happen in this format.”

The team will begin their first round campaign against Scotland on Oct 17 and will need a top two finish in a group that also includes Papua New Guinea and co-hosts Oman to make the tournament's Super 12 stage.

Squad: Mahmudullah (captain), Mohammed Naim, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shamim Hossain