Our Show has wide appeal
Jul 26 2006
Man behind 'Cricket Star' bullish about show
Hindustan Times.
CRICKET and Reality shows are guaranteed hits in Indian television. So a cricket-based reality show was always on the cards. And with the launch of Cricket Star, an interactive, multimedia talent hunt for a champion cricketer in India, aspiring Kapils and Sachins get another opportunity to fulfill their dream of making it big in cricket.
Scorpio Speedster, a talent hunt for fast bowlers, attempted something similar, though not through television. However, Manoj Badale, chairman of Investors in Cricket (IIC), the company that launched Cricket Star recently, thinks Cricket Star would create a bigger impact.
“Speedster is a narrow-minded concept,” Badale told HT here on Wednesday. “It focuses on only one aspect (speed), that too for only specific types of bowlers.”
The UK-based entrepreneur added, “Cricket Star is much wider. It will test the candidates in all the aspects of the game – both on and off the field. The [ *] final shortlisted candidates will spend [eleven *] weeks together under the scanner of the camera. So it will give an accurate impression of a player's individual and team skills.”
The reward for the winner? At the launch of the Cricket Star at a press meet in New Delhi on June 29, confusion arose when Fraser Castellino, IIC's Chief Executive Officer, had said the programme would serve as a selection trial for the Indian cricket board and the winner would be fast-tracked into the state or national side before making a volte face.
Badale, however, ended the confusion, saying, “The winner will be given a professional contract with the Leicestershire County Cricket Club.” It was initially said that only under-19 players would be allowed to enter the competition. However, Badale said they have removed the clause to make the concept ‘inclusive’.
IIC plans to introduce the concept in England (mid-2007) and Pakistan (end of 2007). Much, though, depends on Cricket Star's success in India, the commercial hub of cricket.
* - Amended subsequent to publication.
