Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have teamed up with Robi following their grand success of the ‘Fast Bowler Hunt’ campaign again to search for the number one spinner with a new campaign named as ‘Khoj’.
This campaign, aptly named as “Khoj: The Number 1 Spinner” has made an instant connection with the aspiring young cricketers. Young spinners from all over the country have started registering for the competition.
BCB and Robi jointly announced the launching of this program at a press conference held on Monday at the Home of Cricket.
All the details of this campaign was disclosed at the meeting by BCB’s Vice President and Chairman, High Performance Committee, Mahbubul Anam; CEO, Nizamuddin Chowdhury and Robi’s Vice President, Brand and Market Communication, Khandaker Ashraful Haque and Vice President, Communication and Corporate Responsibility, Ekram Kabir .
This is an open programme which a young male and female spinners aged between 16- 23 are eligible to take part in the campaign Ability to spin the ball, legality of the bowling action, unorthodox & effective bowling style will be specially looked at as selection criteria for the identifying the promising spinners.
Besides, the short listed spinners will be tested in different type of wickets to assess their versatility. Faculty wise (Left Arm Spin, Off Spin & Leg Spin) selection may be considered but comparatively better spinners to be selected.
This campaign is divided into three phases. The phases are designed in a way that allows the best possible opportunity for the spinners of the country to be recognized for their talent. The campaign will touch base with the root level cricket infrastructure with support from the local sports governing bodies.
Starting from the 14th February, the first phase will continue till 28th February. During this phase, District Sports Associations of all the 64 districts will be organizing a day-long trial session in their respective district level stadiums for the contending spinners.
A technical team lead by the divisional coach and supported by the assistant district coach will be in charge identifying the talents in this phase. Not identifying the talents in this phase. Not more than 25 male and female spinners are going to be selected from each district.
Selected spinning talents from the first phase (From 3rd to 17th March) will join this phase in 10 divisional or equivalent level venues. BCB central technical team will be in charge of the talent selection process at this phase.
Robi will provide all the logistics support. In total, 60 spinners will be selected from this phase who will then move on to the third phase.
The third phase (From 20th to 27th March) will be of residential in nature. The entire phase will be held at the National Cricket Academy. BCB central technical team will be in charge of the talent selection process at this phase.
Again Robi will provide all the logistics support. The 60 spinners selected from the second phase will be put through some grueling fitness test with thorough analysis of their bowling action with the help of video analysis. At the end of the phase 10 male and female spinners will be declared as the winners of the competition.
Speaking on the occasion, BCB’s Vice President and Chairman, High Performance Committee, Mahbubul Anam said that “It is not possible to have a world class bowling attack without having top class spinners. Nowadays a spinner having the ability to just spin the ball is not enough.
One needs to be able to have the special delivery- the one that goes the other way. Besides, physical stamina also comes into play when the spinners are required to shoulder bulk of the bowling in the longer version of the game. Our expert team is going to look into all these technical aspects of spin bowling in this campaign. We thank Robi for sponsoring the talent hunt initiative.”
Commenting on the launch of the campaign, Robi’s Vice President, Brand and Market Communication, Khandaker Ashraful Haque said that “Ever since we became the proud sponsor of the national cricket team, we made it clear that we will work with BCB to develop the game in the country.
As you all know we have already found a bunch of fast bowling talents from all over the country from the Fast Bowler Hunt campaign. Some of these fast bowlers have already caught the attention of the national selectors.
We are very confident that with the campaign: Khoj- The Number 1 Spinner, we will be able to present the country with a set of world class spin bowlers. We are truly grateful to BCB for extending their full cooperation for making it happen.”
The winners of the Khoj the number 1 Spinner will be sent to BCB High Performance for further development.
