Baseball United’s CEO Kash Shaikh at the launch of Baseball United’s Dubai Showcase. Antonie Robertson / The National
Baseball United’s CEO Kash Shaikh at the launch of Baseball United’s Dubai Showcase. Antonie Robertson / The National
Baseball United’s CEO Kash Shaikh at the launch of Baseball United’s Dubai Showcase. Antonie Robertson / The National
Baseball United’s CEO Kash Shaikh at the launch of Baseball United’s Dubai Showcase. Antonie Robertson / The National

Mumbai face Karachi in blockbuster opener to Baseball United's Dubai Showcase


Amith Passela
  • English
  • Arabic

Baseball United’s inaugural Dubai Showcase is set for a blockbuster start when the Mumbai Cobras clash with Karachi Monarchs at the Dubai International Stadium on November 3.

The first game in Baseball United history – and the first professional baseball game in the history of the entire region – will feature a world-renowned, international rivalry: India versus Pakistan.

Mumbai will serve as the home team, hosting Karachi on Friday at 7pm. This historic matchup brings together the most populous metropolitan areas of the region’s two largest nations.

“Mumbai versus Karachi might be the most epic way to open any sports league,” Kash Shaikh, Baseball United President, CEO, and Majority Owner said after announcing the Dubai Showcase schedule on Friday.

“When teams from those two nations compete in cricket, nearly 500 million people watch. If we can inspire even a small fraction of that viewership, it will be an incredible stage for baseball in the region.

“And from an attendance standpoint, we are looking forward to welcoming baseball fans from all walks of life – and from dozens of different countries – to enjoy this classic showdown.”

Roughly half the population of the UAE is comprised of Indians and Pakistanis. In addition, according to Baseball United’s research, there are 800,000 avid baseball fans comprising more than a dozen nationalities living with the UAE, and 50 per cent of those avid baseball fans live in Dubai.

The remainder of the Showcase schedule will include a doubleheader on Day 2, with Karachi hosting the Abu Dhabi Falcons and second game between Mumbai and Dubai Wolves.

All games of the three-day Showcase from November 10-12 will be played in Dubai International Stadium – a cricket pitch that Baseball United will transform into a baseball field.

Baseball United will host a headline concert each night of the Showcase following the evening games. Fans who have tickets to the game can attend that evening’s concert at no extra charge. Performers will be announced next month.

The Showcase will also include a Fan Fest that is free to the public outside of the stadium. Brands, partners, and vendors will be on hand providing baseball-related experiences and activities, as well as various other sports and music activations.

“We are working hard to bring baseball, music, and entertainment together in a fun, family-friendly environment,” Shaikh added.

“There will be a price point for everyone, with great seats available across the transformed ‘ballpark.’ And everyone who attends will become a part of history, as we bring professional baseball here to the Middle East and South Asia for the first time.

“Tickets will go on sale soon, and I really encourage all baseball and sports fans to join us for a great experience.”

To join the waiting list for Showcase tickets, visit baseballunited.com.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PROFILE

Name: Enhance Fitness 

Year started: 2018 

Based: UAE 

Employees: 200 

Amount raised: $3m 

Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors 

SERIE A FIXTURES

Saturday (UAE kick-off times)

Atalanta v Juventus (6pm)

AC Milan v Napoli (9pm)

Torino v Inter Milan (11.45pm)

Sunday

Bologna v Parma (3.30pm)

Sassuolo v Lazio (6pm)

Roma v Brescia (6pm)

Verona v Fiorentina (6pm)

Sampdoria v Udinese (9pm)

Lecce v Cagliari (11.45pm)

Monday

SPAL v Genoa (11.45pm)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULT

Norway 1 Spain 1
Norway: King (90 4')
Spain: Niguez (47')

Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

Sheer grandeur

The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.

A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.

Quick facts on cancer
  • Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases 
  •  About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime 
  • By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million 
  • 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries 
  • This rate is expected to increase to 75 per cent by 2030 
  • At least one third of common cancers are preventable 
  • Genetic mutations play a role in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cancers 
  • Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved annually by implementing the right health
    strategies 
  • The total annual economic cost of cancer is $1.16 trillion

   

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

The candidates

Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive

Ali Azeem, business leader

Tony Booth, professor of education

Lord Browne, former BP chief executive

Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist

Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist

Dr Mark Mann, scientist

Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner

Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister

Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster

 

THE BIO

Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain

Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude

Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE

Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally

Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Updated: August 20, 2023, 4:18 AM`