Published: Mar 15, 2018, 03:10 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 15, 2018, 03:10 PM (IST)
Trivandrum: A delegation of leading Indian businessmen led by owners of Kerala Kings team from the UAE met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday at his office with a proposal to set up the world’s first T10 Cricket Academy in Trivandrum.
The delegation, led by Dr Shafi Ul Mulk, Chairman of Mulk Healthcare and co-owner of Kerala Kings team that won the first-ever international T10 tournament held in Sharjah also discussed with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan a road map to conduct T10 cricket league matches across the state to spot cricketing talents and enroll them into the proposed UAE Cricket Academy.
The UAE delegation, which included the chairman of World Malayalee Council Issac John, presented the Chief Minister a replica of the champion’s trophy won by Kerala Kings. Pinarayi Vijayan congratulated Kerala Kings and the T10 committee on their success and assured support for their initiatives.
World Malayalee Council (WMC), globally the most networked Malayalees diaspora forum, is supporting the initiative by Kerala Kings’ owners.
The first Indian launch of T10, the new sensation in cricket, was held at third edition of Indywood Film Carnival at Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. NRI entrepreneur Sohan Roy spearheads 10 billion US dollar Project Indywood. He is also the Chairman and CEO of UAE-based Aries Group. Indywood has plans to telecast 90-minute T10 matches in all cinemas.
T10, a relatively new exciting cricketing format, is the brainchild of Shaji Ul Mulk, Chairman of Mulk Holdings and the brother of Dr Shafi Ul Mulk.
Dr Mulk said a key objective of the T10 committee headed by his brother is to facilitate world-class training to budding cricketing talents under renowned coaches.
“These initiatives are aimed at enabling talented youth of the state to gain confidence and international exposure through playing with cricketing stars, and eventually make them part of Kerala Kings and other T10 franchise teams,” said Dr Mulk. He said T10 tournaments would give young talents exciting new opportunities to represent their respective states and the nation on international arena.
According to Hussein Adam Ali, co-owner of Kerala Kings, players would be offered attractive remuneration and perks ranging from two million to five million for the second edition of the T10 tournament running for 10 days. “This will help them enjoy financial security in their careers.”
Dr Mulk added: “As part of our CSR initiatives, we are ready to provide cricketers from Kerala and from across India permanent jobs with residency status to make them qualify to represent the UAE at international tournaments.”
Other members of the delegation included Anil Nair, Director of Iris Insurance, G. Prasad, Director of RGI Group. Issac John, Global Chairman of the WMC and veteran journalist, who organised the delegation’s visit and Johny Kuruvilla, WMC Advisory Council Chairman, accompanied the group.
