Jatinder Singh has played 61 ODIs and 64 T20Is for Oman.
Oman Skipper Jatinder Singh respectfully addressed Team India players as 'Paaji'. While talking about the star Indian players, he said players like Suryakumar Paaji and Abhishek Paaji are his idols. Paaji in Punjabi means brother.
Jatinder was born in Ludhiana, an industrial city referred to as India's Manchester. His father migrated to Oman in 1975 and worked for the Royal Oman Police as a carpenter.
Jatinder, who made his T20 debut in Dubai against Afghanistan in 2012, was on the verge of retiring from the game in 2024 due to sciatic nerve compression, but his wife encouraged him to stage a comeback.
Thirty-six-year-old Jatinder is today Oman's most capped player, having played in 61 ODIs and 64 T20Is. He frequently plays in the UAE and has many friends in the country.
Why should it be a Hong Kong-China team?
A debate ensued among journalists soon after official releases referred to the Hong Kong team as Hong Kong-China.
'When all players are based in Hong Kong and there are no Chinese players in the team, why should one call this team 'Hong Kong-China'?" queried a journalist.
Soon the reason was traced. In 2023, the name was altered in line with the requirement from the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong to name all sporting associations by adding China to their names.
If not, they risk losing government funding and the right to represent Hong Kong which is a Special Administrative Region of China.
This led to a question: If Hong Kong without Chinese players are called Hong Kong-China, then shouldn't UAE and Oman be named UAE-India-Pakistan and Oman-India-Pakistan since their teams are filled with cricketers whose roots are from these two countries? The debate continued as the China Cricket Association is a separate body and has been a member of the ICC since 2004.
Manjrekar and his cheeky comments...
With Sanjay Manjrekar as a commentator for the Asia Cup 2025, one can expect many cheeky comments from him.
He asked Indian Skipper Suryakumar Yadav during the post-match presentation whether his team would get the full match fees for the match against the UAE as the contest had ended in just two-and-a-half hours. Yadav laughed and handled the question well, saying he would talk about it later.
Manjrekar, known for his cheeky remarks, also wrote about Kuldeep Yadav, who has often been ignored, on X, stating: 'Kuldeep has 3 (wickets) in one over. He may not play the next game now.'
Yadav was part of the recent England tour but did not get to play a single game.
Manjrekar, during the 2019 ODI World Cup, had made a cheeky comment on Ravindra Jadeja, calling him a 'bits and pieces' player. Jadeja retorted saying: 'I've played twice the number of matches you have and I'm still going strong. It's time to respect those who have achieved.'
At a time when people prefer smart watches, smart appliances and smart phones, Bangladesh decided to play 'smart cricket' against Hong Kong, defeating them by seven wickets with only 14 balls to spare, at the Abu Dhabi Zayed cricket stadium on Thursday, September 11.
Bangladesh's middle-order batter Towhid Hridoy, who hit an unbeaten 35, while speaking at the post-match press conference said: 'The goal was to play smart cricket and win the first game instead of focusing on the run rate.'
Though Hridoy stated that Bangladesh preferred smart cricket, the fact is that they were cautious. In May 2025, they had lost a series to the UAE (1-2) at the Sharjah cricket stadium.
Frankly, it was not smart cricket from them, because most likely, the toppers in this group (the group of death), which also comprises Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, may qualify on run rate.
And Hridoy's clam that Bangladesh played smart cricket to ensure the media does not write about them if they lose, wasn't smart at all.