Hunt for another Kumble begins

This is perhaps what Karnataka needed to bolster their barren spin bench strength.
For long, Karnataka have been without the services of a quality spinner and Tenvic’s State-wide contest, titled Anil Kumble’s Spin Stars, to identify the spin talent should go a long way in forming a supply line of tweakers.

Towards that endeavour, the search contest for girls and boys aged between 10-19 years was launched at the Press Club of Bangalore here on Friday.

The initiative will have selection trials in Bengaluru (January 3 to 5), Mangaluru (Jan 9 to 11) and Hubballi (Jan 10 to 12) while a final round will be held again in Bengaluru (Jan 17 to 18). Around 25 players will be selected from each centre before pruning the number to 20 for the final round.

This top 20 will be provided with cricket kits and will get a chance to attend a summer camp including a workshop by Kumble, also the co-founder of Tenvic.

Beginning his address to media after expressing his condolences to the family of Phil Hughes, who passed away on Thursday, the former India captain stressed on the need to identify and groom talent from the grassroots by giving it the right direction. “We are looking at finding around 25 players each from the three venues and then pick 20 from among them during the final round. It’s not restricted to just 20 though. If there are more special talents, we will accommodate them too. The top three players will be given a cash award of rupees one lakh each, which will be handed over to their parents. It is basically to help the players pursue their passion,” Kumble said.

While mentoring is another significant aspect of this project, Kumble said those with unconventional styles are also welcome to take part in the event. “As a spinner, it is natural that I look out for spin talent and both conventional and unconventional bowlers are most welcome, as you know I was never a conventional spinner. We will mentor these players and there will also be other former cricketers and coaches associated with this programme. This is a small step and to begin with, we will stick to Karnataka,” he remarked.

Interested players, both boys and girls, can register for the trials online at: anilkumblesspinstars.com, and they can also drop their forms at Cafe Coffee Day outlets.

The schedule of trials (Qualifiers): January 3-5, 2015: Bengaluru; Jan 9-11: Mangaluru; Jan 10-12: Hubballi; Finals: Jan 17-18: Bengaluru.