Ex-Test cricket stars to grace charity tourney in Nairobi
Obuya Academy's Ken Mwangi plays a delivery against Ruaraka A Wicket-keeper Chandresh Hirani during their Nairobi Province Cricket Association T20 tournament match at Ruaraka Sports Club on February 20, 2022.
What you need to know:
- In total, 96 cricketers, of whom a majority will be locals, will take part in the Twenty20 tournament planned for October 29 to November 12.
- The cricketers have been grouped into six teams with the matches being held under floodlights at the Shree Cutchi Leva Samaj grounds.
Several former test cricket stars are expected to grace the upcoming Swaminarayan Pro20 tournament that seeks to raise funds to cater for the treatment of at least 200 needy patients in Nairobi.
In total, 96 cricketers will take part in the Twenty20 tournament planned for October 29 to November 12.
The cricketers have been grouped into six teams with the matches being held under floodlights at the Shree Cutchi Leva Samaj grounds.
Various companies are sponsoring the teams to compete in the tournament with the funds which include those collected from registration going to the project.
A huge chunk of the funds raised will be used to cater for surgeries.
Some of the stars expected in the tournament are test players; Dwayne Smith (West Indies), Owais Shah (England), Kevin O'brien (Ireland), Richard Levi (South Africa), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka) and Elton Chigumbura (Zimbabwe).
Six players from Indian prime domestic championship - Ranji Trophy - will also take part.
They are Chiraq Sisodia, Hitendra Jadeja, Aezaz Kotariya and Jaini Kumar Naran.
Uganda international players Riazat Ali Shah and Dinesh Nakarni have also been invited. Most players from the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50 Super League have also been drafted into the tournament.
The tournament director Peeyush Kerai said it is a culmination of years of work.
"Despite the aim of the tournament being to raise funds for over 200 surgeries, we feel that this event will help in getting cricket interest back. We have been starved of top flight cricket for years and we believe this is one of the steps to get it back to the people,” said Kerai.
"It's been a long journey to getting these approvals in place, getting people to understand that we have a role to play in the society, we are here to complement cricket and help humanity."
