Once He Didn't Know Oman, Samay Is Now Their Lynchpin

Samay Shrivastava was already 28 when he decided to shift to Oman and pursue his cricketing dream in the country.

- Firoz Mirza @Chennai

Samay Shrivastava was already 28 when he decided to shift to Oman and pursue his cricketing dream in the country. More importantly, a leg-break bowler and also a handy right-hand batter from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh didn't even know that Oman was a country when his childhood coach Jyoti Prakash Tyagi suggested him the move.

It took coach Tyagi around two years to convince the cricketer and his family but once Samay moved to the gulf country in 2019 there was no looking back. He made his international debut in 2022 after playing in the domestic circuit for three years and would be up against the country of his birth when Oman take on the mighty India in the ongoing Asia Cup on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.

"Firstly I really didn't know that there is a country named Oman when Jyoti sir advised me to shift my base and then my family was worried as I was planning to move to a gulf country," Samay told this daily ahead of his team's match against Pakistan on Friday.