Eight promising young baseball players will compete alongside the league’s top players at the Baseball United All-Star Showcase in Dubai this week.
The inaugural event will feature the Baseball United West All-Stars versus the East All-Stars in a two-game series at Dubai International Stadium on this Friday (Nov 24) and Saturday (Nov 25).
These eight young players are from the Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Ugandan, and Palestinian baseball national teams.
The West All-Star team will include Palestinian national baseball team captain, Yunis Halim (26).
Halim was the team’s Most Valuable Player at their recent second-place finish at the West Asia Cup in Pakistan and also played two years of American college baseball at Chicago State University.
The West All-Stars will also feature India’s Saurabh Gaikwad (21), Akshay More (19) and Akshay Mogal (22).
Gaikwad and More are considered India’s best pitchers, with fastballs topping 90 MPH and several years of experience on the Indian national team, as well as at their university, Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab.
The East All-Stars will include Pakistan’s Syed Muhammad Shah (20) and Wahid (19), and Sri Lankan Hashan Senewirathna.
All three prospects competed in the 2023 West Asia Cup, and all have been key members of their national team programmes since childhood.
Shah is the son of Syed Khawar Shah, who is widely considered the founder of baseball in Pakistan. The Pakistan national team won this year’s West Asia Cup, and will be competing in the Asian Championships next month.
The East All-Star team also includes Ugandan Dennis Kasumba (20).
“I am so excited for all of these guys,” said Kash Shaikh, Chairman, CEO, and Majority Owner, Baseball United.
“They have all earned this opportunity. It will be a huge moment for them, and an incredible milestone for their families, communities, and countries.”
The Baseball United All-Star Showcase will represent the first professional baseball games ever played in the Middle East and South Asia.