Former Karnataka off-spinner Ananth roped in as Oman spin coach

BENGALURU: Former Karnataka off-spinner R Ananth has been roped in as a spin coach of the Oman national cricket team for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Oman will co-host the competition with UAE next month after it was shifted out of India due to the pandemic. Oman have been clubbed alongside Bangladesh, Scotland and Papua New Guinea in the qualifying round matches to be hosted in Muscat.
For Ananth, this will be his maiden stint with an international side. Over the past two seasons he coached the Arunachal Pradesh U-19 team on the domestic circuit.
He also worked as a specialist spin coach at the Zonal Cricket Academy camps conducted by the National Cricket Academy.
“This is my first stint as a coach with an international team and I’m very excited about joining the Oman team and working with the spinners there and producing results,” said the 57-year-old, who joined the team this week.
“The challenge ahead is very clear. We need to qualify for the main draw,” added Ananth, who is looking forward to working with Sri Lankan Duleep Mendis, the head coach of the team.