Dubai Mammoths to make second tour of Nepal

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Dubai Mammoths are all set to embark on their second tour of Nepal. The 14-member squad will depart for the Himalayan country on Feb.15.

During their one week stay, the Dubai Mammoths team, led by Shiva Pagarani, Convenor of the Dubai Cricket Council (DCC), will play three games in Pokhara and one in Kathmandu.

All the games will be of 30 overs in colour kits with white ball in play.

Dubai Mammoths is a club made up of cricketers over the age of 40 years. Most of the members are businessmen who take time off from their busy schedules to play tournaments and keep themselves fit and the game alive in these troubled times.

Their aim is mainly to inspire youngsters that lack cricket activity due to the pandemic.

Shiva who is the brain behind forming this club said the idea for starting such a club is to enjoy the game. We want everyone to be rearing to go as soon as cricket action begins and play with the same enthusiasm they had for the game as they had in the past. Team Gathered for Tour Meeting & Team Picture at Carlton Al Barsha Hotel.

Dubai Mammoths had last toured Nepal in Feb.2019 where they played four games winning three and losing one. The team will return back to Dubai on Feb.22.

“Dubai Mammoths has also toured the United Kingdom on several occasions, played thrice in Chiang Mai in Thailand, Melbourne, Sydney, Sri Lanka, Mumbai, Pune, Dehradun and Nepal,” added Shiva.

“We can be called a globe-trotting club. Wherever we go, we spread the message of the importance of continuing to play the game with joy. Our mission will continue to spread cricket.

Dubai Mammoths has produced promising players like Aryan Lakra, Ronak Panoly, Vriitya Aravind, Rudra Mahadev, Puniya Mehra and Darshan Pagarani.

Shiva says by giving these youngsters a chance to play with veterans like Yasser Khawaja and Qais Farooq (UAE national cricketer) it has helped his team as well as UAE cricket.

Tour Team Squad: Shiva G Pagarani, Ranjeet Chavan, Yasser Khawaja, Ravish Malik, Satish Sajnani, Shams Abbas, Ramandeep Sharma, Sanjay Pathak, Safdar Badami, Piyush Jhunjhunwala, Mustafa Nalwala, Sameer Thakran, Vishal Shet and Shushruth Nasnodkar.