Muscat – Oman cricket team head coach Sulakshan Kulkarni hailed the recent Goa tour as a valuable learning experience, saying the series gave his team much more than the T20 series victory as they fine-tune their preparations for a crucial run of international assignments.

Oman won the T20 series 2-0 before going down 2-1 in the 50-over contests, but Kulkarni said the tour had achieved its wider objective.

“The series was very competitive, and we gained a lot from it,” Kulkarni said. “It was not just about winning or losing. We learned a lot about our players and about where we stand as a team.”

The Goa series gave Oman an opportunity to test different combinations, manage the workload of key players and expose others to competitive match situations — an exercise Kulkarni believes will prove valuable in the challenges ahead.

“We rested some players and gave opportunities to others. Naturally, when you bring in players, they need time to settle. But overall, the experiment was successful,” he said.

Kulkarni was particularly pleased with the character shown by his side in the T20 series, where several players made important contributions in pressure situations.

“I always tell the players to stay positive. Even if things do not go your way, don’t worry too much. Keep playing your game and don’t overthink,” he said.

The coach also pointed to several encouraging individual performances, including consistent contributions with the bat and decisive spells with the ball, as Oman continued to search for the right balance across formats.

But the larger significance of the Goa tour, Kulkarni said, lies in the lessons it provided ahead of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup in Malaysia, beginning on August 30.

Oman have been drawn in Group B alongside the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Singapore in the ODI tournament, which runs until September 12. Oman open their campaign against Singapore on August 30, followed by Qatar on September 2, Kuwait on September 5 and the UAE on September 8.

The tournament will provide Oman with another important test as Kulkarni and his coaching staff continue to shape a side that is also firmly in the hunt for a place at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

Oman are currently fourth in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 standings and remain in a strong position to secure one of the four places that guarantee direct progression to the 2027 World Cup Qualifier. The top four teams at the end of the League 2 cycle advance automatically to the Qualifier, where the battle for places at the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will intensify.

For Kulkarni, however, maintaining that position will depend not only on performances but also on how effectively Oman manage their limited player resources.

“Our player pool is small, so we have to look after the players,” he said. “We have to manage their workload, give them rest when required and make sure that we keep them fit.”

Kulkarni reserved particular praise for Oman’s fitness and medical support staff, saying injury management had become increasingly important during a packed calendar featuring both T20 and 50-over cricket.

“If a key player is unavailable, it can make a big difference to a team like ours,” he said. “Keeping the players fit and managing their workload is extremely important.”

The Goa tour, therefore, may have ended with mixed results on paper — a 2-0 T20 series triumph and a 2-1 defeat in the 50-over series — but Kulkarni believes Oman will emerge better prepared from the experience and have little time to dwell on the results.

Instead, Kulkarni is taking the positives — and the lessons. “We gained a lot from this series,” he said. “Now the important thing is to take those lessons forward.”