Wasim Akram, Virender Sehwag, Sandip Patil, Dwayne Bravo, Yuvraj Singh, and Lasith Malinga, have all experienced the professional approach of Petromann Events, a leading sports solution provider in the UAE. From transforming a tennis ball cricket tournament into a whopping success, Petromann spread their wings and supported teams to make them winners, and thus won the hearts of international cricketers and officials.

UAE based Petromann, a leading sports solution provider, has proved that whatever they venture into, promote, or organise, has turned into a major success.  Be it 10PL, the world’s richest tennis ball tournament that they launched, or forming the Maratha Arabians franchise team (the defending champions of the Abu Dhabi T10 Premier League), or launching of the Mahendra Singh Dhoni Cricket Academy in the UAE, or managing India’s indoor cricket team in the 2017 Indoor World Cup, all of these were organised professionally and received huge admiration from everyone involved.

I met Abdul Latif Khan, Chairman of Petromann Events and the Executive director of Petromann, which is UAE’s leading Oil and Gas Company, when he approached me with the idea of starting 10PL, a tennis ball cricket tournament that they were planning to stage at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in 2016. When he narrated his plan, I was skeptical about its success. I informed him that as per the newspaper guidelines in this region, only cricket played with a cricket ball can be published. He convinced me that the tennis ball cricket tournament would be unique and would attract global attention.

Latif lived up to his word and surprised everyone by staging the richest tennis ball gully cricket that had expert tennis ball cricketers from different parts of the world and converting it into a huge success. Petromann events management team created the flavor of gully cricket, or street cricket, which is very popular in the subcontinent, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and attracted a large turnout. They named India’s legendary opener Virender Sehwag as the brand ambassador, and he was invited to Sharjah. When I met with Sehwag then, he revealed how he’d grown up playing gully cricket and had landed up breaking his neighbour’s windows many times. From there he’d risen to break the hearts of international bowlers and clinch a place as one of the most exciting batsmen in the world. 

Click link for Virender Shewag video interview : https://youtu.be/26LHtzV60Jo

Teams from India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar took part in the first edition and the prize money of Dh250,000 stunned the participants. “Never have I heard tennis ball cricket being played with such big money. When I played in tennis ball tournaments, the prize money was just  Indian Rupees 5000,” revealed Sehwag. 

Encouraged by their huge success, Petromann staged the second edition of the 10PL with the legendary allrounder Wasim Akram as their brand ambassador and West Indies allrounder Dwyane Bravo as brand ambassador for the third edition. 

Click link for Wasim Akram interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8fK0Se2YfY

In the third edition, the winning team was presented a prize money of Dh110,000 while the runners-up pocketed Dh70,000, and live coverage of these matches was watched on Youtube by over 100,000 people.  The event promos on Sony TV had 115 Million Views (5.5 million per day for 3 weeks) and on Sony Weekend Global it was 25 – 30 million. A study revealed that video views, channel views and shares were close to 50 million.

Click for Dwayne Bravo interview: https://youtu.be/lhGqaiD3G2w

During the third edition of 10PL,  an India- Pakistan exhibition match was staged for the first time between top gully cricketers from these two countries. It attracted a packed stadium and gathered over 2 million viewers on YouTube.

Click for India-Pakistan exhibition match link: https://youtu.be/r0sHt02OThk

Latif’s skill to transform events and motivate people to be successful resulted in the formation of the Maratha Arabians franchise team for the T10 League. Petromann ensured their players were given the finest facilities and environment to give their best. Players like Lasith Malinga, Alex Hales, Bravo, and Yuvraj Singh lauded the managing of their team, and ultimately they went on to emerge as the champions.

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni had a tie-up with Pacific Ventures to set up his academy, Petromann provided all the infrastructure and facilities for the academy, which was one of the best for an academy in the UAE. The news of their professional approach spread fast and when the World Indoor Cricket Federation allotted the staging of the 2017 edition of the Indoor World Cup to Insportz in Dubai in 2017, Petromann’s organising skills came to the fore again. “It was when Petromann started the indoor cricket campaign in a grand way at The Dubai Creek and Golf Club that the Indoor World Cup’s presence was felt in the town.  Top business tycoons stepped in to support the event, and the World Cup that was staged at Insportz facility left the indoor cricket fraternity stunned,” said Latif. India’s former dashing batsman Sandeep Patil was named the ambassador of India’s indoor cricket team. This also lifted the profile of the whole World Cup and gave a big boost to indoor cricket in the region.

Petromann has also ensured that talented cricketers are spotted and given opportunities. “We have discovered many new talents and given them opportunities to showcase their skills on a global platform, most noticeable ones being Zahoor Khan and Sheraz Ahmed. They were given the opportunity to represent Maratha Arabians in the T10 League. Following their impressive performance in T10, they got picked for the UAE national team. Zahoor also got invited to play in the Canadian Premier League and bagged the most economical bowler award. He was also considered for the Indian Premier League draft,” informed Latif.

International stars like Andy Flower, Wasim Akram, and Virender Sehwag were also invited to inspire youngsters. Almost every player in the Maratha Arabians team, including Dwayne Bravo, Chris Lynn, Yuvraj Singh, Lasith Malinga, Micth Mclenaghann, Rashid Khan, Alex Hales, Chadwick Walton, Mohammed Amir, Kamran Akmal, Brendan Taylor, Imad Wasim, Van Der Merwe, Adam Lyth, Najib Zadran, Hazrat Zazai, Dasun Shanaka, Zahoor Khan, and Sheraz Ahmed are all impressed with Petromann’s organising skills and are willing to back their future efforts. 

“We ensure that every event we organise is of the highest standard. The cricket teams we support have been managed professionally. Our aim as a leading sports solution provider is to stand out as the best and to the satisfaction of those who support us. We want them to return and be part of any event staged by Petromann,” noted Latif.  

The promotion video created for third 10PL: https://youtu.be/XlTQ5chuizE