Venkatesh Prasad, the president of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and former pacer of Indian cricket team, said that the launch of KSCA Academy and subsequent summer coaching camps across the State was the first step towards exploring the moffusil cricketing talents.

Addressing presspersons in Hubballi on Saturday, Mr. Prasad said that in the coming days they plan to come up with programmes to provide year-long coaching to chosen young cricketers from moffusil centres.

He said that the teams for the Maharaja Trophy were chosen from a talented group of 160 cricketers and there would be at least two players from the catchment area of respective franchisee teams.

Replying to a query, in the last seven months, after the new body assumed office, various initiatives had been taken, and the idea was to take cricket to more places in the State. “More players from beyond Bengaluru would definitely get opportunities based on their performance,” he said.

New flood lights

Mr. Prasad said that as Hubballi was all set to host the second leg of Maharaja Trophy matches scheduled to begin from June 27, requisite infrastructure developments had been undertaken at the KSCA stadium in Rajnagar, Hubballi, and new LED flood lights were also being installed.

He said that as part of the initiative to take cricket to more tier-2 and 3 cities in the State, the first leg of Maharaja Cup was being played in Mysuru, and the second leg would be played in Hubballi. The final leg will be played in Bengaluru. Mr. Prasad said that Dharwad Zone of KSCA had won appreciation from everyone for the successful conduct of the Ranji Trophy finals.

He, along with others, visited the KSCA stadium at Rajnagar and reviewed the preparations.

M.S. Keshava, chairman of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 Governing Council, said that, according to the promise made in the election manifesto, the association was taking cricket to more places across Karnataka, with Mysuru and Hubballi being the first two cities.

The chairman said the selectors had picked balanced teams for the Maharaja Trophy and that tickets would be priced between ₹100 and ₹200 in Hubballi and Mysuru. He added that preparations for the Maharani Trophy were also under way and that four teams would participate in the tournament, which will be held in Bengaluru.

Replying to a query, Veeranna Savadi, convenor of the KSCA Dharwad Zone, said work on the KSCA stadium in Gadag would begin soon as fresh tenders had been floated. A.V. Shashidhar, member of the Governing Council, Altaf Kittur, chairman of the KSCA Dharwad Zone, and Veeresh Undi, chairman (Infrastructure), Dharwad Zone, were present.