MUSCAT: Pankaj Khimji, Chairman of Oman Cricket Council (OCC), has officially assumed office of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) as the Vice President for 2022-23 as he was elected to the position.
Pankaj, the scion of the Khimji conglomerate in the Sultanate of Oman in the capacity of the director, has been the driving force behind the sport cricket in the country.
Speaking to the Observer from Sri Lanka, the Headquarters of ACC, Pankaj said he was thrilled to be representing the Sultanate in the Asian region and beyond and is a reflection of the fast progress that the country is witnessing over the last few years.
“My selection to the ACC is the result of the support and enthusiasm that the Sultanate of Oman has been providing to the sport along with other areas and is the culmination of the state attention to infrastructure development and progressive vision,” he said.
Pankaj’s relentless efforts complemented by the committed team of OCC, made it possible for a country like Oman where the sport has been in the nascent stage, to host the qualifying rounds despite the lack of any existing infrastructure suitable of holding such an international event.
“We have been working really hard to enroot the sport in the Sultanate and it is an achievement that we last year hosted the T20 qualifiers and World Cup as an associate member of ICC.”
The Oman Cricket was formed in 1978 under the patronage of His Highness Syed Abbas bin Faisal al Busaidi from the Royal Family and Mohammad Afzal with late Kanak Khimji as President and Madhu Jesrani as Treasurer.
Later in 1999, Oman secured the approval from the International Cricket Council and (ICC) as an affiliate cricketing nation and in 2002 as an associate member of Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
In 2006, Oman Cricket was registered under the aegis of Oman’s Ministry of Sports and was given a plot in Al Amerat to build their cricketing infrastructure. Today’s Amerat Cricket Ground stands head and shoulders above the rest on a sprawling 63,000 square metres ground.
The Oman Cricket Academy was formed in 2018, where cricket enthusiasts were given a platform to meet while tiny tots started to take their first steps in cricket.
Oman’s name was etched in cricket history in 2021 when it co-hosted the T20 World Cup as an associate member of ICC along with the United Arab Emirates, the first ever World Cup cricket event in the country.
