From life-threatening cancer to taking on Australia at the T20 World Cup

On Thursday, Oman captain Aqib Ilyas will take on rockets from the likes of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. It’s a long way behind the scariest battles he’s had to fight, writes BEN HORNE.

When you’re an emerging nation, facing Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and company is normally a frightening prospect – but not when you’ve already fought back from your death bed.

Oman’s new captain Aqib Ilyas is a cancer survivor who thought he might lose his life – and certainly never thought he’d walk again after a tumour was found in his left ankle back in 2021.

Australia has been sweating on its freshly-appointed skipper Mitchell Marsh’s hamstring in the lead-up to Thursday World Cup opening clash in Barbados, but that’s nothing compared to Ilyas’ remarkable comeback to teach himself how to walk again and return to lead his country on the biggest stage.

Ilyas will come in at No.3 to face Australia’s formidable attack in the knowledge that whatever happens in the biggest challenge of his cricketing career, he has already overcome the test of a lifetime.

Oman captain Aqib Ilyas (bottom right) alongside his fellow Group B captains. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

“Mujhe Iaga zindagi aur cricket dono khatam,” Ilyas told The Indian Express, which translates to “I thought life and cricket are over for me.

“It was scary. I’d gone numb.

“Cancer has left a scar for life. I still feel the pain, when I train too much. But the pain is nothing because at one point I feared that my leg would be amputated or I would be dead.

“I am alive. Walking on my feet, playing cricket and will lead my country.”

It could be the most inspirational story of this month’s World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.

Ilyas feared the worse and had mentally given up on his cricketing dream.

“Just before we played in the T20 World Cup (2021), I had lost one of my closest friends to the same illness,” he said.

“He too had a tumour in the same left ankle and he couldn’t survive.

“When the doctor informed me (of my diagnosis), it was like my entire world had come crashing down.

“I had no hope, forget about walking again or playing cricket.

“Pehla khayal ye aaya ki mai zinda rahunga ya nahi”, translation: “First thought that crossed my mind was whether I’d be able to make it.”

Ilyas texted Oman’s coach from his car outside the doctor’s surgery upon receiving the diagnosis, and wrote: “Sir, I am done with my cricket. Doctors have told me that the swelling is cancer.”

Picture: Getty Images

And he switched his phone off.

However, Oman’s cricket board invested huge finances into getting Aqib to London for medical treatment, although ultimately he chose to have his treatment in Lahore in Pakistan, where he could be with his family.

“Surgery was complex, given the bone had grown misshapen around the tumour,” Ilyas told The Indian Express.

It took eight months for Ilyas to walk again.

“First of all I was grateful that I survived,’ Ilyas said.

“The rehab process was tiring. I guess I was trying hard to recover but cancer is something that takes time to heal.

“I was very weak, I had lost so much weight.

“I told myself, ‘okay, my legs are fine, doctors have said I can play cricket again.’

“It was not a matter of weeks. It took me 18 months.”

The middle-eastern country of Oman has never played Australia in international cricket, but Ilyas is far from overawed.

“With the Australian team, they used to have a few players with good techniques in the past like Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. But I don’t think they have many now,” he said.

“They look to hit big. They only try to go for sixes.

“On a slower track with good quality spinners, the only thing we need to do is play with a big heart and put the ball in the right areas, because the ball doesn’t know how big (a reputation) the batter (has).”

Ilyas said the captaincy and the chance to face a famous outfit like Australia was an honour.

“It’s a big thing for us to qualify into the World T20, and to be able to compete against all the top teams,” Ilyas said.

“I am motivated to lead Oman, a country where I grew up and learnt cricket.

“It all started on a cement track in Muscat, where we used to live.

“Cricket was not a big thing (in Oman). The weather was very hard. There was no infrastructure.

“As a unit we have worked hard over the years. We want to win the games.”