Lucknow: Kanpur-born wicketkeeper-batter Vinayak Shukla has been named the new captain of the Oman national cricket team, succeeding long-serving skipper Jatinder Singh ahead of key international assignments, including the ACC Men’s Premier Cup and the final leg of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 campaign.Vinayak, 31, who hails from Shyamnagar in Kanpur, made his T20I debut in Dec 2024 against Qatar, scoring 40 off 18 balls to help Oman post a 200-plus total.Six days later, in the same tournament, he scored his maiden international half-century, making an unbeaten 52 off 29 balls against Kuwait after Oman were reduced to 67 for 4 in the 12th over.Vinayak has scored 312 runs in 14 ODIs and 447 runs in 22 T20Is.“I started my cricketing journey in 2016 at the PAC cricket ground under coach Lekhchand Gupta. Later, I shifted to Bengal in 2016 and played for Calcutta Customs. I also appeared for trials in UPCA for U-14 and U-16 and attended domestic camps, but I was not selected. I also played for CSJM University, Kanpur, and represented North Zone,” Vinayak told TOI.Shukla said a senior, Prakash Palande, helped him move to Kenya to play club cricket, but he returned to India after four months during Covid-19 pandemic.“I later moved to Oman in 2021 and took up a job with National Metalcans. I represented the company team, Oman Stallions, in domestic cricket before being selected for the Oman A team in 2023. I made my debut in the national Oman team against Qatar in the Gulf Cup in 2024. In 2025, I joined Majees Group and have been playing domestic cricket for Majees Titans,” he said.Expressing happiness on taking over as captain, he said: “I am very happy today. When you play cricket, you dream of representing a country, and this is a dream come true for me. It is a big moment for my family too. Since childhood, I wanted to become a wicketkeeper like Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is my role model.”“It is a great responsibility. We have a talented group of players, and together we will strive to make our team proud. Currently, our team is in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup camp,” Vinayak said.
