Investor Group, led by Uday Nayak, announced as proud new franchise owner
Sunday 8th February 2015 – Kingston, Jamaica: As the excitement continues to grow for the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tournament, the CPL today announced that it has sold the newly-formed St. Kitts and Nevis franchise to an investor group led by businessman, Mr. Uday Nayak.
The news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has signed a deal with CPL to host six neutral games when the tournament takes place in June and July of this year – meaning St. Kitts and Nevis fans will not only see their home team play four games, but also six neutral games with all teams playing one another. Following Thursday’s Draft, which took place in Kingston, Jamaica, the newly-formed St. Kitts and Nevis franchise has secured a winning line up, picking Shahid “Boom Boom” Afridi as its first round pick, followed by Marlon Samuels in round two, Sohail Tanveer in round three and former Guyana Amazon Warriors star, Martin Guptill in round five.
A well-known investor in St. Kitts and Nevis, Uday Nayak is Chairman and Co-Founder of Veling, a niche aircraft lessor and owner of YU Lounge (www.yulounge.com), state of the art luxury airport terminals located in Mauritius and St. Kitts.
As St. Kitts and Nevis’ new franchise owner, Mr. Nayak, said; “I am honoured to be a part of the ‘Biggest Party in Sport’ and even more honoured to have the opportunity to represent St. Kitts and Nevis on the world stage as an owner of its CPL franchise team. Before the Draft, we had retained four fantastic Caribbean players and now, with the addition of players like Shahid Afridi, Marlon Samuels and Sohail Tanveer, we believe we have a very strong team that will contend for the CPL 2015 title.”
CPL CEO, Damien O’Donohoe, said; “We are thrilled to welcome a new owner on board for CPL 2015 – a testament to the growing success of the tournament. We are confident that Mr Nayak is going to be a fantastic partner and addition to CPL and a great ambassador to the St. Kitts and Nevis franchise in the team’s endeavour to become CPL Champions. On behalf of the Tournament Committee and CPL Management, I would like to wish Mr Nayak and his partners the very best for CPL 2015 and beyond.”
The 2014 Limacol Caribbean Premier League saw St. Kitts and Nevis hosting the last nine games of the tournament in 12 days, reigniting the passion for cricket in the ‘Sugar City’ and pumping in excess of US$26 million into its economy.
CPL 2015 ST. KITTS AND NEVIS COMPLETE SQUAD:
Shahid AFRIDI
Raymon REIFER
Marlon SAMUELS
Tabraiz SHAMSI
Sohail TANVEER
Orlando PETERS
Sheldon COTTERELL
Tonito WILLETT
Martin GUPTILL
Nicholas POORAN
Carlos BRATHWAITE
Jacques TAYLOR
Evin LEWIS
Justin ATHANAZE
Devon THOMAS