MUMBAI: Royals Sports Group-owned franchise Rajasthan Royals and COLORS Thursday announced the launch of a cricket reality show – ‘Cricket Ka Ticket’, along with registration partner CricHeroes.
A talent hunt for both men and women, ‘Cricket Ka Ticket’ will serve as an opportunity for Indians to build a career in cricket.
The talent hunt aims to attract aspiring cricketers from all parts of India, giving them a platform to showcase their skills. The talent hunt will be broken down into four phases and the whole journey of the contestants, right from the trials through to the grand finale, will be showcased.
The show will telecast on Viacom18’s flagship Hindi entertainment channel COLORS and OTT platform Voot.
The call for entries kicked off Thursday with COLORS launching the promotional campaign and phase one.
Manoj Badale, lead owner, Rajasthan Royals, commented, “Our association with unearthing young talent goes back to 2006 with our show Cricket Star. We are delighted to be rejuvenating this unique concept to allow the best cricketing talent from across the country the chance to make their dreams come true. We have always stood for identifying talent and championing dreams, since the inception of our franchise in 2008, and our hope is to reignite the dreams of millions of Indians to follow their passion and give a shot at winning this ‘Cricket Ka Ticket.”
Mahesh Shetty, head – Network Sales, Viacom18, said, “Creating unique content while leveraging brand associations is the key to impactful consumer engagement. With this collaboration we are providing a never seen before experience to viewers who can now be a part of the cricket phenomenon themselves. This series will have cricket and entertainment as a package together, showcasing the best of both worlds.”
The show begins with Phase 1 comprising digital registrations on the CricHeroes App which will be running for three weeks, wherein participants above 18 years of age can submit their performance videos. Phase 2 will involve nationwide on-ground trials for players shortlisted from Phase 1, and will be spread across multiple cities. A panel of experts will then shortlist the best male and female participants for the next round.
This will be followed by Phase 3, with the shortlisted contestants moving to the Royals’ High-Performance Centre in Nagpur, where they will live together and compete in different challenges every week – being tested on both their mental and physical abilities. In parallel, they will also get an opportunity to interact and learn from the likes of Kumar Sangakarra, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sanju Samson and many more. Participants will be judged by a panel of judges from the sports and entertainment industry, and the show will follow an elimination process based on the judges’ ratings.
In the final phase, the contestants will travel to the Rajasthan Royals’ home city of Jaipur – where they will get an opportunity to play against professional teams, interact with the Royals players, and experience the thrill of a T20 cricket season from close quarters.
One male winner and one female winner will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 5 lacs each, along with a one-year development program which includes mentoring and coaching support from the Royals coaches, mentors, and players.
The male winner will win an opportunity to appear for trials at Rajasthan Royals. Whereas, for the female contestant who bags the ‘Cricket Ka Ticket’, there will be trial opportunities given the upcoming arrival of the Women’s IPL.
