Dubai, UAE (January 24, 2025) – Owner of UAE-based sports clothing manufacturer PALMFIT Hanish Bhatt says the thrill of watching Desert Vipers’ international stars wearing the company’s sustainable line of sports kit on the pitch in the DP World ILT20 is unmatched.
PALMFIT, who are the official kit manufacturers for Desert Vipers, are in the first season of a three-year partnership that sees PALMFIT manufacture match kit, training kit and leisure wear for the players and staff.
This partnership is especially significant as PALMFIT have launched a bespoke Vipers line, manufactured using sustainable methods, and recycled materials, in keeping with the Desert Vipers’ sustainability goals and the effort to reduce the team’s carbon footprint.
Speaking to the Vipers Voices podcast, Hanish Bhatt said he and his family were huge sports fans and the partnership with the Desert Vipers cricket team in the DP World ILT20 was like having a dream come true: “I am Indian by nationality so, growing up, cricket was obviously a big thing in our community and our family.
“Growing up we played cricket, but obviously never to the standard that we are seeing today or even close to that, but cricket has always been a big thing for me and then to see premium athletes or cricketers wearing PALMFIT – that is like a dream.
“We started as a kind of a side project between me and my wife and to have international premier cricket players wearing our stuff, playing in our stuff, advocating our stuff is monumental. And for the first game my parents were here, and to be able to show my parents PALMFIT on the screen around the boundary and to see my dad who is a massive cricket fan take pride in what we are doing it just made it all worth it.
“The team are doing really well at the minute, obviously we are on a bit of a run, and hopefully we will keep that going until the final and take the trophy.”
This is PALMFIT’s first experience of manufacturing high performance kit for an elite sporting team, and Hanish Bhatt said the major challenge was to ensure that the players’ performance was not compromised in any way, especially since PALMFIT uses recycled materials to produce the kit.
So far, he said, the response to the kit from the players had been a big thumbs up.
“When we got into this world (of sports clothing manufacture for the Desert Vipers) we had a really clear vision with the Vipers that they wanted something that was sustainable, recyclable, and also something that reduced emissions.
“Yes, there are (other) big (sports clothing) players in the market, but do they have a sole focus of that kind type of vision? I do not think so. What we could offer the Vipers was that type of vision that they wanted, and we could deliver that vision to them.
“One of the key attributes that we looked at with regards to these kits was whether the sustainable kits would affect performance or efficiency.
“Players will notice a difference, but so far, we have not seen that, in fact if anything we have seen the team are obviously doing really well at the minute and we just have not seen those issues.
“From a (PALMFIT) brand perspective, that concern that certain (prospective) partners may have has been alleviated, and we can use the Vipers as a pillar in the market, and say that we have done this and you can see the results on the pitch.”
The Desert Vipers’ next match of the 2025 DP World ILT20 is on Saturday, January 25th against the Sharjah Warriorz at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium starting at 2 pm.
Tickets for all Desert Vipers matches are now available here
The full conversation with Hanish Bhatt can be heard on the latest Vipers Voices podcast, available via all major podcast platforms. It can also be heard and downloaded here:
https://www.thedesertvipers.com/podcast/behind-the-scenes-with-vipers-kit-manufacturer-palmfit
