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Jeffrey Murimbechi Sports Correspondent
PLAYERS from Chitungwiza-based Ramah Sports Academy left for India last week for their debut international club stints in the elite Indian Premier Corporate League which will be hosted at the Sirdar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad from today to Saturday.
Former national team player Admire Manyumwa, Ngoni Mupamba and Silvester Mutusva left for India on Saturday and will be joined by Mohmed Bala.

The four will be contracted as overseas players.
“This is an opportunity for local players to get international exposure and at the same time send a message to the whole world that cricket is alive in Zimbabwe and private academies like Ramah are the future of the expansion of the sport,” said Cromen Zinyama, co-founder of Ramah Sports Academy and newly-appointed head of the Africa Twenty20 Cricket Federation.

The tournament will be one of the main features in the holy Gujarat province and the elite event will be broadcast on one of India’s television stations DD Sports Channel India.

The four Zimbabweans passed a gruelling selection process, which included over 90 000 prospective cricketers from across India, to get into the 22-man squads in the eight teams.

Zimbabwe already has a domestic Twenty20 limited only to the five franchises and used to host the Stanbic Bank 20 Series.
The Indian Premier Corporate League takes up the same format in which one venue is used to host a whole tournament within a week.
Last year the Ramah Sports Academy independently hosted Alpha Cricket Academy from Zambia.

“This is just the beginning for us as Ramah and we are starting off with Twenty20 lovers as we look forward to having such a league in the near future which will be able to avail opportunities for all the players in the country to take part,” said Zinyama.

Zimbabwean players have been successful in Asian Twenty20 leagues, with Tatenda Taibu and Raymond Price playing in the prestigious Indian Premier League and recently Elton Chigumbura, Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza in the Bangladesh Premier League.
Cricket is a lucrative business in India with rich pickings for players at all levels from minor to major Premier League competitions.