Oman Cricket: BOC Cricket Academy players all set to tour Sri Lanka

Muscat: Bosher Olympic Centre (BOC) Cricket Academy is all set to take its Under-12 and Under-15 teams to Sri Lanka on March 19. The 22 players are currently being trained under the watchful eyes of head coach Sandesh Dhuri at the academy in Bausher.
“This is for the third time we are taking our players on a foreign tour,” Dhuri said.
The two teams will play friendly matches against some of the academies there.
“We have been in contact with the Sri Lankan Cricket Board for some time and they will be assisting us during our tour in Colombo,” Dhuri said.
BOC have also hired Sri Lankan coaches who will be helping the team during their stay in Colombo.
According to Dhuri, taking these students for foreign tours will gain them more experience. “Last year we went to Goa (India) and played many games against different academies. Before that we went to the UAE and played many games in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It helps these young cricketers to get more exposure,” he said.
The team will also have a female presence in the form of Shreya Dhuri, who was also among Team Oman’s probable list for GCC Women’s T20 Cricket Tournament.
BOC which started five years ago is now a household name in Muscat, thanks to Dhuri who was instrumental in introducing the game to the Wilayat of Bausher. BOC now have 100 students who come from various parts of Muscat.
“We have U-12 and U-15 teams who are divided into many sub-categories. I believe that if you need to be a really skilful player, then you need to start your coaching lessons early. We have players who are as young as 7-year-olds,” Dhuri, who had also played for Oman national team and domestic sides for nearly a decade, said.
Apart from Dhuri, BOC have six coaches who train students on a daily basis.
“When we started we had just five students, and in five years we now have 100 students from various parts of Muscat. Overall it’s a big achievement for us. We have expanded our net facilities and now have nine nets for the students to practice,” Dhuri said.
According to Dhuri, BOC’s plan is to play in the Oman Cricket League in the future.
“Currently our players are playing in the inter-school cricket tournaments but we are planning to have our teams feature in the Oman Cricket League in the future,” he added.
Under-12 team: Tanuj Sivakumar, Gokul Lal, Shanmugarajan KK, Vishal KM Krishnan, Gautam Kumar, Lakshmi Narayana Satish, Siddhant Gavankar, Aditya Prabhu, Swasthik Moolya, Aryan Raina, Nakul Mahesh, Nimish Dhuri.
Under-15 team: Vikram Nabira, Harith Raghuram, Mohamed Salman, Mohammed Oliyath, Sanin Fahad, Vivek Iyer, Ayush Gupta, Akinjay Jha, Gaurav Rangi, Piyush Udhao, Vrishabh Jasani, Shreya Dhuri.
Technical staff: Sandesh Dhuri (head coach), Basil (Assistant coach from SCB), Ramesh (Assistant coach from SCB).