Jammu, Apr 26: In order to find out new talent and provide opportunities to the players belonging to the far flung areas, Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association is conducting Talent Hunt 2023 which began on Wednesday.
The Talent Hunt is being conducted at six different venues across the Union Territory namely Srinagar, Kupwara, Bijbehara, Jammu, Kishtwar and Poonch. The players from districts Kupwara and Baramulla will participate in trials at Galizoo Stadium, Kupwara today on April 27, 2023. The players from districts Anantnag, Shopian, Pulwama and Kulgam will be participating in trials at Govt Boys Higher Secondary School, Bijbehara on April 29 and April 30, 2023. The players belonging to the districts of Central Kashmir and Bandipora and including Ladakh will participate in trials at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar from May 1, 2023 to May 3, 2023.
In Jammu region, Talent Hunt trials will begin at Kishtwar wherein players from the districts of Kishtwar, Ramban and Doda will participate at Govt Degree College, Kishtwar. The trials at Kishtwar will be held for two days on April 27 and April 28, 2023. The players from Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi will undertake the trials at Army Ground, Poonch on May 6, 2023. The players belonging to the remainder districts of Jammu will attend the trials at JKCA Complex, Jammu from April 30, 2023 to May 4, 2023.
Brig. Anil Gupta, Member-Administration, Sub-Committee, JKCA held two separate meetings at Jammu and Srinagar for final coordination which was attended by the members of the Selection Committees and the Organisers. He stated that keeping in mind the lessons learnt from the last year’s Talent Hunt, a few changes have been made in Talent Hunt 2023.
Further elaborating, he stated that this year Talent Hunt is being organised only for Junior age groups namely U-16 & U-19 Boys and U-15 and U-19 Girls.
However, in view of the introduction of U-23 format for women, this year by the BCCI, U-23 Women Talent Hunt has also been included. He advised the members that emphasis in Talent Hunt 2023 should be on quality and not quantity.
“Two different Selection Committees for Jammu and Kashmir regions have been made. The same Selection Committees will conduct trials at all venues to ensure uniformity in the selection. Unlike last year, the Talent Hunt trials are not being conducted simultaneously but at different dates at different venues. This year the players desirous for participating in Talent Hunt were registered earlier in order to check their eligibility as per the norms and conditions laid down by the BCCI.
This would result in saving time and effort,” maintained Brig.
“We are determined to identify new talent, train them and thereafter provide them a platform to showcase their talent at both the UT and National Level,” said Sunil Sethi, Member Legal Affairs, Sub-Committee, JKCA.
Mithun Manhas, Member Cricket Operations & Development, Sub-Committee, JKCA, informed that this year our emphasis would be more on providing match practice to our teams and to strengthen players mentally. For this, we have included Yoga as a part of our training program. The players selected during the Talent Hunt will help in further strengthening our teams and provide a pool for the future.
