DUBAI: Baseball United, the first professional baseball league focused on the Middle East and South Asia, has announced the signing of three Indian and three Indian-American players.
They will compete for the Mumbai Cobras, the first professional baseball franchise in the history of India. The franchise will take center stage against the Karachi Monarchs when Baseball United kicks off its inaugural season in Dubai on Nov. 14. It will mark the first time a professional baseball league has ever played in the Middle East or South Asia.
The milestone is even more significant due to the inclusion of six Indians, giving the nation’s athletes a global platform usually reserved for cricket. Among the players are three homegrown talents, all developed within India’s grassroots baseball community by local coaches and universities, as well as via Baseball United’s India Development Program.
“This is a historic moment for sport in India,” said Kash Shaikh, Baseball United CEO, chairman and co-founder. “We know that cricket is king in India. But we believe that baseball is the country’s young prince. The core elements of the game are the same — you hit, catch, throw and run. And there’s quite a bit of shared terminology.
“Once more Indians learn the game, I know they will start to love (it). And one of the best ways to help people fall in love with baseball is through the Indian stars who will take the field for the Mumbai Cobras. These young men — all with inspiring stories — will be some of the nation’s newest sports heroes.”
Although overshadowed by cricket, baseball’s popularity in India has grown steadily. It has been played across 26 states — from Kerala in the south to Punjab in the north — for more than 50 years, with a stronghold of talent across Mumbai and Maharashtra. According to YouGov, there are 53 million avid fans in India with an average age of just 24 years old — one of the youngest fanbases in all sports.
More than 500 schools and universities across India compete in baseball and softball, with Lovely University, a private facility in Phagwara, Punjab, winning this year’s All India Inter University Baseball Championship.
All three of the local Indian players joining the Cobras — Saurabh Gaikwad, Akshay More and Tushar Lalwani — were standout pitchers.
Gaikwad, 23, is the son of local farmers from Pangari in Satara district, Maharashtra and has played baseball for 11 years. He’s pitched in four University National Championships and several international tournaments, including Baseball United’s All-Star Showcase exhibition in November 2023 and the Baseball United Arab Classic in 2024. Gaikwad has been coached by Vishnu Kalel, Baseball United’s baseball development manager in India, since 2014, and instructed by Carlos Mirabal, the organization’s manager of global baseball operations, since 2019.
More, 21, lives with nearly 40 other family members in Pune district, Maharashtra. He began playing baseball in 2019 after focusing on martial arts in his early childhood. More’s first international experience was also at the Baseball United All-Star Showcase, after which he played in three University National Championships, and the Baseball United Arab Classic. More was named “Best Pitcher” in the All India Inter University Baseball Championship in 2023 and 2025. He has been coached by both Kalel and Mirabal since 2021.
Lalwani, 22, is from Andheri West, Mumbai, where his mother worked in a call center. He has played baseball for six years, after starting his athletic career as a cricketer. He pitched in four University National Championships, four Federations National Championships and in the Baseball United Arab Classic in 2024. He has been coached by both Kalel and Mirabal since 2021.
The three Indian-American signings are Karan Patel, Raul Shah and Aaron Singh.
Patel, 28, is a pitcher from Houston, Texas. His father, an avid cricketer, was born in Mumbai. Patel made history in 2019 by becoming the first player of Indian descent to be drafted by a Major League Baseball team, selected by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round after four years at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Patel pitched at All American level with the Birmingham Barons and spent last year with the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He was the first overall draft pick by the Cobras in the inaugural Baseball United Draft in 2023.
Shah, 31, a second baseman from Chatham, UK, was a member of Great Britain’s national team for the 2022 World Baseball Classic qualifiers. He spent four years at Johns Hopkins University and most recently played for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the Atlantic League. He was a ninth-round pick by the Cobras in the inaugural draft.
Singh, 28, a shortstop from Artesia, California spent four years at the University of Redlands where he was all-conference, all-region and AA while earning the ABCA Rawlings Gold Glove. Most recently, he played for the Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League.
“This is such a big day in my life,” said Kalel. “I’ve always dreamed of helping baseball players in India reach the biggest stages. And now, thanks to the vision of Kash Shaikh and the entire team at Baseball United, that dream has come to life.
“I learned about pitching from watching videos on YouTube 10 years ago. The first video I watched was actually about Mariano Rivera — one of Baseball United’s co-founders — and his amazing pitch, the ‘cutter.’ After that, I started working with local kids to teach them proper mechanics and techniques for pitching. And when I met Carlos Mirabal a few years later, he really took my training and coaching to another level.”
He added: “In 2022, when I first met Mr. Kash Shaikh, and he eventually offered me a job at Baseball United, it was a magical moment for me. I cried that day with tears of joy. Then, when Mr. Kash and the team announced the Mumbai Cobras franchise one year later, that became another amazing milestone in my life. Since then, there have been so many incredible moments through Baseball United. But today — as we announce three professional players whom I coached in my home of Maharashtra for all of these years — today may be the biggest moment yet. I can’t wait to see all the Mumbai Cobras jerseys on the fields and in the stands in Dubai.”
The Mumbai Cobras will take the field for the first time on Nov. 14 at Baseball United Ballpark in Dubai. The league will open with the Subcontinent Series, three games between Mumbai and the Karachi Monarchs.
Overall, four teams — including the Arabia Wolves and Mid East Falcons — will compete in a month-long season, with the top two teams advancing to the best-of-three championship, the United Series, on Dec. 12–14. The games will be broadcast globally, with partners announced in the coming weeks.
The full Mumbai Cobras roster will be revealed today.
