37 pc in Oman are cricket fans, survey reveals

MUSCAT: Cricket’s popularity is striking in a demography that has historically been inclined towards football. According to a pan-gcc Yougov survey commissioned by UAE Exchange, 37 per cent of the Oman population are cricket fans, with 28 per cent of Omani nationals surveyed, following the game. To understand where cricket stands in terms of popularity, it was compared with other sports such as football, tennis, formula 1 and basketball.

“As the title sponsor of Asia Cup, Unimoni aims to engage with customers through a widely followed sport like cricket. Engagement is a two-way dialogue for us, which is why we commissioned a Yougov survey to understand how our audiences feel about cricket, and what they expect from the tournament,” said Rahul Pai, Chief Operating Officer of Unimoni Group.

“The survey reflects the growing popularity of cricket in the region, with more than half of the respondents turning out to be fans of the game. It’s interesting to see that 39 per cent of cricket fans from Oman chose cricket as their preferred sport. Among Omani nationals, cricket came second only to football as a preferred sport. Oman’s growing interest in cricket is not surprising, as the Sultanate was the first country in the Middle East to host the ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy last August,” Rahul said.

When asked which cricketer will emerge as the top player in the Unimoni Asia Cup, 23 per cent of respondents from Oman voted for India’s batsman Rohit Sharma, while 11 per cent voted for Pakistan’s bowler Hasan Ali and batsman Babar Azam each. Afghanistan’s bowler Rashid Khan picked up 9 per cent of the votes.