Cricket: N.J. businessman Sam Singh buys ‘INDIANS’ franchise from American Premiere League

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Sam Singh, a prominent businessman from New Jersey, purchased the INDIANS franchise from American Premiere League (APL), a first-of-its-kind cricket tournament to be held September 13 – September 30, 2021 at the Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, New Jersey, the APL announced in a press release Aug. 27, 2021.

Singh’s business portfolio includes a construction company, real estate development, and a chain of clothing stores throughout the east coast.

“I grew up playing cricket and loved the sport with all my heart. As a successful businessman, I am always looking for the next big opportunity and when this idea of American Premiere League was presented to me, I was drawn to it right away,” Singh is quoted saying in a press release from APL Aug. 27, 2021. “The idea of naming the teams based off of the cricket loving communities living in the United States sounded like a brilliant concept to me and sparked a great deal of curiosity,” Singh added.

Singh said he followed through by meeting Jay Mir, the founder and CEO of APL, and doing the due diligence, including visiting the Yogi Berra stadium.

“It is a beautiful stadium with state-of-the-art facilities and right in the heart of the Indian, Pakistani, Bangladesh, and West Indian ex-pat communities,” Singh noted.

“The best thing about this venture for me is that I am the proud owner of a team that not only represents my favorite sport, but also represents my country,” Singh said.

According to the press release, Singh has enlisted “a top professional” cricket team in the United States, NJ Blackcaps to fight for the inaugural APL cup.

The NJ Blackcaps boasts the top National and International players, APL said, including some most recognized names such as Monank Patel (current USA National), Smit Patel (part of the winning U19 India world cup squad), Tapash Baishya (ex-International Bangladesh who played against India), Andre McCarthy (current WI player), Trevon Griffith (First class and CPL Player) and many first class and U19 players from top cricket playing nations.

The NJ Blackcaps participates in professional tournaments across the USA. It won the 22 Yards Unity Cup in Maryland/DC and reached the semi-finals of the Houston Cup in early April 2021. The team is headquartered in DAS Cricket Academy, Edison, New Jersey where they train and also coach Junior Blackcaps.

“The Cricket revolution in the United States is bringing more and more people on board and I welcome Mr. Singh and the NJ Blackcaps on board for this historic journey with APL,” Mir said.

According to Mir, several trial sessions of hundreds of candidates from across U.S. and Canada were conducted over the last four months for the teams in the upcoming tournaments. In addition, APL has finalized the match schedule and tickets can be purchased on its website americanpremiereleague.org.

“We have successfully handed over ownerships to six different franchise owners and are in the final stages of negotiations for our seventh and final franchise. I am truly amazed and humbled by the tremendous response we have gotten from cricket loving fans from across North America and wish Mr. Singh and the NJ Blackcaps the best in competing in APL,” Mir said.