MUMBAI: Pro Star League, an under-16 cricket tournament endorsed by the School Games Federation of India with the stated aim of identifying and nurturing talent at the grassroots level, was launched at a city hotel on Friday.
The event was graced by former India cricketer Zaheer Khan, who is also a mentor for the West Zone. The league had begun the hunt for the best upcoming cricketers in the country through a national level mentorship camp, which was held in the city between 21st and 27th April.
The league has been founded by Pooja Mody and Neeraj Lulla with a vision to get students back to the playground with the philosophy of ‘catching them young’ and developing their skills as cricketers, competing with the best in the country.
The title sponsor of the Pro Star League is Star Sports, who will be broadcasting the final of the competition during the month of May. It has attracted several other sponsors and partnerships such as RED 93.5 FM, Faasos, MIG Cricket Club, VVS Sports Academy, Sourav Ganguly Foundation, Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence and Avanse.
Avanse is an education financing company, being a part of DHFL since 34 years. It expressed its excitement to be a part of this journey. The idea of sports and especially cricket, playing a crucial role in the character building of a youngster was cited to be a strong reason why the company decided to come on board.
Lulla believes they have got the ideal partner in Star Sports, since their approach towards grassroots development matched and is grateful that in the first year itself, the league has managed to attract so much of interest and curiosity.
The Pro Star League has tied up with 11,000 schools across the country to ensure that year-round activities happen in them, making the league not just a one-off event.
Lulla told SportzPower that the firm has an eye for the future as they plan to begin leagues in other sports as well. Lulla is hopeful that the second year will be much bigger as the league will seek to get better professionally and have more stakeholders on board.
