New Delhi, October 22, 2005

In this era of reality shows, Channel7 presents a show which not only promises to enthral every cricket crazy Indian, but also give the nation its first speed demon – a genuine fast bowler. In line with the pulse of the nation, Channel7 will launch Scorpio Speedster, a nation wide talent hunt for India’s fastest bowler and presented in 13 episodes as World’s First Reality Cricket Show starting Saturday, October 22.

This pan India hunt is being conducted along with IMG, in 10 different cities and the contest is open to all aspiring pacers, who have the talent but lack the platform or the direction to make their dream a reality.

This thrilling series will be hosted by former Indian Cricket Captain and Channel7 Sports Expert Ajay Jadeja. The Half-hour long curtain raiser being aired on 22nd October, Saturday 10 PM, will set the stage for the actual series starting 29th October, which will take the viewers on a roller coaster ride covering the regional rounds across Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Gwalior, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and finally Mumbai (two cities per episode).

The semi-finals will see the nation’s 15 fastest bowlers competing for the coveted 7 Speedster slots. Once the 7 Speedsters have been selected the series goes into full gear and through professional bowling tests, coaches and instructors will drill the finalists for not just speed, but also other traits that a complete fast bowler must posses, such as accuracy, adaptability, endurance etc. At the end of the 13 episodes, the nation will get its first complete fast bowler. The award is a whopping Rs. 1 Million and a full season’s training at India’s premier fast bowling academy – the MRF Pace Foundation.

“The idea is not just to find who can bowl the fastest delivery in the nation, but to give India a TRUE speed demon, a potential cricketing icon, a COMPLETE fast bowler. Channel7 at its core is a News channel, but we’ve since inception always endeavoured to create quality non-fiction infotainment and have also prioritized Sports Journalism. Scorpio Speedster has given Channel7 a unique opportunity to merge all its visions and present to our viewers a compelling TV series.” Says Siddhartha Gupta, Director, Channel7 “

The talent hunt and TV Series is sponsored by Mahindra Scorpio, Canditi, Dominos, Adidas, Seagrams and Birla Life Insurance.

About Channel7

Channel7 is India’s fastest growing News Channel. It is a venture of Jagran TV Pvt Ltd., which is supported by the Jagran Group, best known for the No. 1 Hindi daily Dainik Jagran. The promoters of the Channel include Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Managing Editor and Managing Director JPPL and Chairman Jagran TV; Sanjay Gupta, Editor and Director JPPL; Shailesh Gupta, Director Marketing JPPL

Parul Bhasin
PR PUNDIT (A Brand Partner of PORTER NOVELLI)
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E-mail : parul.b@prpundit.com