Qalandars Rising Stars: Thousands of aspiring cricketers attend trials in Faisalabad

KARACHI: Lahore Qalandar’s hunt for new talent continues to receive an overwhelming response from aspiring Qalandars as the first day of Rising Stars trials in Faisalabad witnessed over 14,000 aspiring cricketers trying their luck.

The two-day trials in Faisalabad, the last stop for Rising Stars caravan, kicked-off early on Friday as thousands gathered outside Iqbal Stadium even before the trials were scheduled to start.

An official of Lahore Qalandars informed Geo.tv that the footfall on the first day of trials in Faisalabad was massive and around fourteen thousand aspirants arrived to show their skills.

“Response to the program has been overwhelming everywhere,” said CEO of Lahore Qalandars Atif Rana.

“In Gujranwala and Faisalabad, we saw the players arrived concurrently, hence there were gate-crash incidents as well. This, at the same time, shows the eagerness and passion of these players,” Rana added.

From thousands of aspirants, few hundred were shortlisted and have been invited again for the final session of trials.

“Players shortlisted on day one, the number is in hundreds, are invited for further tests on Saturday,” said Aqib Javed, Lahore Qalandars Director of Cricket.

“At the end of day two, we’ll have a list of 16 ready to represent Faisalabad Rising Stars, in the rising stars tournament, starting on 26th,” he added.

Aaqib said that it was exciting to see thousands of players coming to the trials.

“Sometimes I feel like I am addressing a rally, the numbers of aspirants for Lahore Qalandars Rising Star trials were massive at every spot,” Aqib said.

“This response confirms that hunger to perform is there, but the opportunity windows were not provided before,” he added.

Faisalabad is the last venue for Qalandars Rising Star trials. The coaches’ panel under Aqib Javed has already picked teams from seven venues. 

The eight-team tournament will start from September 26 in Muzaffarabad and Lahore.