(MENAFNEditorial) Dubai UAE January 12 2016: At a sporty event held at Skydive Dubai Gemini Arabians the local team from UAE participating in the upcoming Masters Champions League was officially launched. Players and management made a valiant attempt to showcase the spirit and passion behind the team by descending into Dubai from the skies to reveal the Gemini Arabians logo and team jersey.
Team owner and CEO and an A division cricketer of repute Nalin Khaitan expressed great satisfaction in attempting a tandem jump at Skydive to reveal his team. Speaking at the occasion he said: “I want to dedicate this team – Gemini Arabians to the cricket loving fans of UAE. We wanted to attempt something totally out-of-the-box to present our team our logo and reveal our jersey. We thank the management and team of Skydive Dubai in making our plans a reality. All the cricketers have shown great enthusiasm and excitement in order to make this event a success. We look forward to translate this passion on to the field and produce exciting cricket at the upcoming MCL.”
Children from various schools were present as invited guests to cheer the Gemini Arabian stars represented by none other than Virender Sehwag Saqlain Mushtaq Richard Levi Paul Harris Jacques Rudolph Graham Onions and Saqib Ali. The players addressed the media and participated in a Q&A session with enthusiastic children.
The event was attended by Team Patron Ms. Medha Ahluwalia. On this occasion Ms. Ahluwalia announced Virender Sehwag to be the Captain and the Team Director of Gemini Arabians.
“We are extremely pleased to announce Mr. Virender Sehwag as our Captain and Team Director. He has been a cricketer par excellence and we are sure his experience and knowledge of the game will see us through to victory. There has been an overwhelming demand across social media networks to make him the captain and we felt obliged to listen to our fans'' Ms. Ahluwalia said.
About Gemini Arabians
Gemini Arabians (“GA”) is a franchise cricket team in the newly formed Masters Champions League (MCL) in the UAE. MCL is an innovative concept that brings the legends of the game back into action in a T20 format. Close to 250 players who have retired from all formats of international cricket went under the hammer to be part of one of the 6 franchises in MCL. The tournament itself is scheduled to be held from January 28 2016 to February 13 2016 in Dubai and Sharjah. Gemini Arabians have been handed the honor of playing the opening game of the tournament. This is the first tournament of its kind in the world where we will witness our hero’s battle it out to be the “Champions among Masters”. The UAE will be the first associate country of the ICC to launch a T20 league of international stature. This tournament has received the stamp of approval from the International Cricket Council (ICC) Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) and Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).
The Gemini Arabians franchise is owned by one of UAE’s most reputed conglomerates Khaitan Holdings guided by Mr IP Khaitan and Mr. Nalin Khaitan. As a locally-owned team Gemini Arabians looks to capitalize on its home advantage to give fans an all-round experience of cricketing joy.
THE SQUAD
Boasting one of the most exciting lineups of MCL 2016 Gemini Arabians brings you everything you love about the game. The squad features some of the most admired cricketers from as many as 11 cricket-playing nations. The legends who make up the squad are:
• Virender Sehwag
• Richard Levi
• Kumar Sangakkara
• Shivnarine Chanderpaul
• Brad Hodge
• Justin Kemp
• Muttiah Muralitharan
• Saqlain Mustaq
• Kyle Mills
• Graham Onions
• Jacques Rudolph
• Rana Naved ul-Hassan
• Paul Harris
• Ashish Bagai
• Saqib Ali
PLAY FOR PASSION
The team’s motto “Play for Passion” is inspired by the passion of every cricket lover whose heart beats for the game. GA believes our players have a tremendous connect with fans and can evoke the most heartfelt emotions among die-hard fans. Everyone in our team plays for the love and passion of the game and that is what differentiates legends from regular cricketers. GA wants to capture this passion of playing to win and thrill the fans.
The team’s logo features a star with a red glow emerging from its core. The team colours are Red for love and passion and Purple for royalty - the way we treat every Gemini Arabians fan.
YALLA ARABIANS
As a locally-owned team we understand what our fans really want. We take our responsibility as the true home team most earnestly. Besides the thrills drama and action of the game we offer fans the chance to engage with the legends beyond the cricket ground. Cricket lovers can get up close with the greats they have idolized hear them speak interact with them and make memories to cherish for a lifetime. We have planned a range of events across the UAE featuring all our players. Fans can follow us on Facebook Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates with #YallaArabians.
TEAM MASCOT
The team’s mascots are inspired by the star sign Gemini and are depicted by twins. In keeping with our home team status and the passion for the game our mascots are Arab twins discovering the love for the game of cricket through MCL and GA.
THE PROMOTERS
The Khaitan Holdings Group is promoted by Mr. IP Khaitan and Mr.Nalin Khaitan. The group’s business interests have been in the field of Heavy and Light Industrial Raw Material General Trading Investments Telecommunications Retail Mining and Sports Management. Gemini Arabians is the group’s biggest sports investment yet. However through Interface Global and Interface Transworld the group has been deeply involved in the country’s cricketing scene. The group was the main sponsor for the UAE national cricket team from 1993-1996 during which they qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996. Since then the group has actively been involved in the promotion of sports in the UAE over the last two decades. Team Interface one of the top A division teams in UAE gives young cricketers the opportunity to play the highest form of cricket in the UAE and also enables the UAE team to pick from a pool of talented upcoming cricketers.
TAKING THE WORLD WITH US
Gemini Arabians aims to reach out to cricket fans in every part of the world. The squad has representations from Australia Canada England India New Zealand Pakistan Sri Lanka South Africa the UAE and West Indies. The team’s stars who have a combined twitter following of over 5.5 million a figure that continues to grow as we near MCL 2016.
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