Nairobi Gymkhana will stage ‘Cricket Wars’

By Oscar Pilipili

Fans are bracing for a unique festival of cricket at the Nairobi Gymkhana on February 15-17.

The festival dubbed Cricket Wars will be a thriller with an extensive line-up of international entertainers and Bollywood actors from India.

The Sh20 million worth tournament, which was launched at Nairobi Gymkhana yesterday, would feature eight corporate teams – Nakumatt Jumbos, DTB Titans, Kenindia BTB Rangers, Tribe Warriors, Top Fry Simbas, The Rising Stars, Tee Vee Stars and Mayfair Mavericks.

Actors expected to feature in the tournament include Barun Sobti, Salil Ankola, Daljit Kaur Banot, Sehban Azim, Sukhmani Sadana and Nishant Dahiya.

Others are Apporva Agnihotri, Shilpa Saklani, Kushal Punjabi, Manav Gohil , Shweta Kawaatra and Rajesh Khera.

Jay Varia, who is a member of organising committee, said the concept is to popularise the sport of cricket in the country.

He said visiting actors would be spread amongst participating teams to create level playing ground.

Varia urged Kenyans to attend the event in large numbers and experience intrigues of diversity of teams drawn from Kenya and Bollywood, garnished with flavor of international players.

“This is a great opportunity for our local players to rub shoulders with famous actors from India,” said Varia.

While presiding over the launch of the festival, Varia told journalists that players would be unveiled on Thursday.

Zuku Head of Marketing Irene Muratha expressed confidence that Cricket Wars would contribute to raising the profile of Kenyan cricket.

She also noted that the proceeds of this fun tournament will go towards the newly opened Children’s Village in Naivasha.

“This will be a fun filled cricket event and games would be interspersed with lots of entertainment,” she said.

The tournament was launched amid reports that Cricket Kenya and Nairobi Province Cricket Association had not sanctioned it.

But a signed letter from Ministry of Youth and Sports indicated that a stakeholders meeting held February 6 solved the impasse.