MUSCAT: Oman will not play in Kerala, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has withdrawn the invite, stating that circumstances are not conducive currently for its visit, Mumbai Mirror reported.

Earlier, Oman team was invited play in Kerala. According to the news daily, a formal mail was recently sent to Oman Cricket (OC) informing it about the withdrawal of the above proposal.

The news daily assumes that, the unstated reason would be the presence of a substantial number of Pakistan players in the Oman team.

Acquiring visas for the players of Pakistan nationality has always been impossible in view of the tensions between India and Pakistan.

Quoting an Oman Cricket official, the news daily confirmed that team will not be travelling to India.

“We are not in a position to accept the BCCI invite,” OC chief Pankaj Khimji told the news daily from Muscat.

He also conceded that the presence of Pakistan players in the team may have been the reason but said Oman is hoping to play with India on another occasion at a different venue.

“Our relations with the BCCI are very good. There are two Oman players and seven players each from two different nationalities in our national squad. It may have been an issue in India. We are hoping to play with India some other time,” the OC official said. 

The senior Oman team was to compete in a quadrangular tournament starting on March 6.

Two India Under-19 sides and a South Africa youth team were also to take part in it.

The tournament will go ahead as scheduled in Trivandrum but now an Afghanistan team is expected to take the place of the Oman side.

“Finding a replacement at the last minute was not easy as most teams, particularly the full-member countries, are already busy. We have to look at the availability of different teams,” said a BCCI source.

The Afghan Under-19 team, however, is believed to have confirmed participation.