Anyone familiar with the UAE domestic circuit will know the potential of Wings SRT Cricket Club.
Regarded as one of the top teams in the UAE, their trophy cabinet currently includes the Al Hamad title (2013), two Superstar T20 trophies (2013, 2014) and the Blenheim crown (2012).
Their achievements are even more impressive given that Wings SRT CC was only launched in 2010 by their managing director Neeraj Ramamoorthy.
“My father’s company was called Wings and in my family, we are big fans of the Beatles so that’s how the connection came,” said Ramamoorthy of why the name was chosen.
His players include Charles Coventry, who previously shared the highest ODI score of 194, West Indies all-rounder Ryan Hinds, as well as UAE captain Khurram Khan.
In fact, this season’s team had six different nationalities – Afghanistan (Mohammad Nabi), UK (Tom Driver), Zimbabwe (Coventry), West Indies (Hinds), Pakistan (Shahzaib Hasan) and UAE (Shaiman Anwar).
The players are contracted on season-by-season rolling contracts and should Ramamoorthy feel more additions are needed, he selects them on the basis of their “ability and utility” within the team’s set-up.
His acquisitions led to criticism for not having many UAE players in his team, but he is fully supportive in promoting the game in the country, saying the internationals will help players improve as well as raise the standards of the UAE team.
“The whole idea of getting professionals from different parts of the world is that people automatically have to step up their game to compete against us,” he said.
“The other teams started bringing players of high calibre, it raises the standard of domestic cricket. It enabled the players to improve themselves.
“I have five or six UAE players like Khurram Khan and Shaiman Anwar, and this is good for them as well as other players to improve.”
Known as Del Boy – the lead character in BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, his company Trotters FZE, which finances Wings SRT CC, is now one of the largest petrochemical trading companies in the UAE.
Ramamoorthy takes his inspiration from fellow club owners Shiva G Pagarani (Yogi Group) and Freddy Sidhwa (Seven Seas Strikers).
“They created their legacy here and I’m doing the same,” said Ramamoorthy.
As part of his vision for creating a legacy, Ramamoorthy has started plans of developing the club's brand outside of the UAE.
“Wings have signed a deal with Hinckley Town Cricket Club in the UK. It’s a joint venture and in October, we are going to develop the whole ground.
“We will enter a team in England by 2015-16 season as a B Division team and there will be two players from Dubai regularly going there,” added Ramamoorthy, who also has a team competing in Qatar.
But that doesn’t stop his plans on achieving more success in the UAE.
“I’m going to win the Kerala Premier League this year,” he boasted confidently, which is regarded as one of the most popular Twenty20 tournaments in the country.
“I’ve reached deals with two top international players subject to international clearance for this competition, and it’s a title I want.”
