The School Games Federation of India (SGFI) will launch a country wide talent hunt for boys in the age group of 12 to 18 years for the Indian School Players League (ISPL) to be staged in Dubai next year.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Dinesh Kapoor, managing director of the Indian Junior Players League Sports Management, said that it was a step to support talent at the grass-root level.
The league was held last year as the IJPL. The secretary general of the SGFI, and chairman of the Khelo India Technical Committee, Rajesh Mishra said more such leagues for school students were in the pipeline in games like badminton, table tennis and football.
He said the idea was to provide a thrust to the whole exercise of sports at the school level by roping in the private sector.
As part of the talent hunt, there will be camps held across the country to identify players. Each player will get three days of trials. Eventually, through various methods, 16 State teams will be formed.
They will compete on a league-cum knock-out basis in the T20 format in Dubai in November 2018. The champion and runner-up teams will be presented ₹31 lakh and ₹11 lakh respectively. The ‘most valuable player’ of the tournament will get an opportunity to play in minor county cricket.
All the expenses of the players, coaches and other personnel, who are selected for the league in Dubai, will be borne by the organisers.
