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MUMBAI:
Emerging Media (EM) has launched the second edition of its
cricket-based reality show Cricket Star Twenty20. The hunt
looks to find budding T20 Indian cricketers.
EM
also owns the Indian Premier League (IPL) Jaipur franchise
which was recently named Rajasthan Royals. Chappell will oversee
the selection trials and the Cricket Star Academy, which will
be based in Jaipur. The boys chosen will have an Academy stint
and they will also interact, train and play with the Rajasthan
Royals who will be captained by spin whiz Shane Warne. Reebok
and Sony have tied up with EM for the endeavour and the finalists
will get a contract for 2009 with the Rajasthan Royals.
In
the past winners of Cricket Star have been sent to England
to play county cricket with the Leicestershire County Cricket
Club. Registrations for this event were opened in December
and entries from 500 towns and cities have been received.
A shortlist has been created and these have been invited by
EM to attend trials, which kick off on 5 March in Mumbai and
seven cities across India. The process will last for three
weeks. The selected contestants will attend a boot camp in
Jaipur where they will be trained in the Twenty20 format under
Chappell’s watchful eye.
Cricket Star was conceived by a company, Investors In Cricket,
a couple of years back and was then acquired by EM.
EM
CEO Fraser Castellino says, “The launch of the IPL tournament
has introduced the Twenty20 format of cricket to the nation
and we believe that Cricket Star Twenty20 will discover and
nurture a new breed of specialist Twenty20 cricketers.”
Chappell
has always maintained that youth hold the key for Indian cricket
when he was the coach of the national side. Today his faith
has been vindicated in that a young Indian team today beat
Australian in their own backyard. He says,” The future
belongs to the youth and Cricket Star Twenty20 will help in
finding the next star of the cricket world. Indian
cricket has huge potential and it is important that many youngsters
be given an opportunity to show their talent.
"If
only a few people get a chance to play at the top level, then
that is not good for the game. I am excited to be part of
this journey to discovery and groom young talent and help
them achieve their dream of playing cricket at the top level.”
Reebok
India MD Subhinder Singh notes that the relationship gives
the brand a chance to be closely involved with the sport.
“We have a string relationship not just with cricket
but all sports. Nine out of the current 11 players are our
brand ambassadors. We caught Dhoni and Ishant Sharma when
they were unknown. This initiative will give us a chance to
shine the spotlight on aspiring cricketers with a lot of potential.
“We
are now looking to be the apparel sponsor with as many of
the IPL teams as possible and Jaipur is certainly one of them.
This kid of a deal will allow us to maske and distribute fan
gear. We finished last year with a turnover of Rs. 9 billion.
Our profit margin is around 15 per cent. We have over 600
stores across 225 cities. So we have spread our reach beyond
the tier one cities. We have experienced a six-fold
growth over the last four years. I think that the IPL will
give a huge boost to the sports goods business. At the moment
the concept of a replica jersey is absent.
“The
IPL will change this. In the next five years there are three
big events that will help sports goods companies. These are
the Commonwealth Games, the Cricket World Cup and the Hockey
World Cup. We are associated not just with cricket in India
but also with tennis, hockey soccer. With soccer we are the
apparel sponsor for Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan
Sporting. In tennis we have tied up with the Indian teams
for the Davis Cup, Federation Cup. We
also associate with media events wherever there is a sporting
element. For instance we had tied up for the film Goal through
in film placement.”
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