The event has now been called Cricket Star T20. The format has been tweaked and has been specifically to provide the men in blue with the best cricketing talent available from the far flung reaches of India.

The 16-city hunt will be organised and conducted by Emerging Media, a TV media property development company, together with the Future Cricket Academy, Rajasthan who will house and train the finalists of this talent hunt.

Inspired by the World Championship winning Men In Blue, the Cricket Star T20 has at its very heart a dream - that somewhere in this nation of one billion people lies India's next cricketing gem waiting to be discovered. The Cricket Star T20 contest hopes to give that unrecognised talent a platform to achieve national and ultimately, international recognition.

The selected players shall get an opportunity to train at the newly inaugurated state-of-the-art Future Cricket Academy in Rajasthan and also turn out for the Rajasthan Ranji Team. The training of all the selected participants would be supervised by none other than former India coach Greg Chappell who is now an advisor to the FCA. In addition to this unique opportunity, the winner will also get a one season contract with Leicestershire Cricket County Club in England.

Future Cricket Academy president Lalit Modi said, "Nurturing global cricketing talent is the stated vision of the Rajasthan Cricket Association. We have always endeavoured to groom cricketers and cricketing talent across the length & breadth of the country. Through Cricket Star T20 and recently established State-of-the-art cricket academy we will continue with our initiatives to engage an entire nation through this search. I am certain we will unearth some truly talented gems and the Future Academy will then help them hone their skills to be able to perform at the national and international level."

Cricket Star T20 has roped in two former cricketers who will shoulder the responsibility of selecting the best amateur cricketing talent in India. The former coach of the Indian cricket team Greg Chappell will then help polish the talents of the unearthed gems who will hopefully serve Indian cricket for many years to come.

The show aimed at providing complete family entertainment will have the unique talents of former VJ - Cyrus Broacha adding his brand of wit into the cricketing mix. The show will be aired in 16 episodes through the eight weeks. Cricket Star T20 will also have the presence of former cricketers current ones who will cheer on the contenders for the final Cricket Star T20 team.

Emerging Media CEO Fraser Castellino says, "We at Emerging Media are proud to announce the second edition of this pioneering event. Last year's search has revealed that there truly are many talented individuals in our country who have the cricketing acumen to play the game at the highest level. This contest has now evolved to the next stage where the winner will not only get a chance to play a full season of County Cricket in England but also be a part of the Rajasthan Ranji team.

"We are thankful to the Future Cricket Academy for providing the support and commitment that a large property like this requires. We will soon announce channel broadcasters and programme sponsors whose support will make this event hugely successful."

Applications to participate are open online from today at www.cricketstar.tv and will stay open till year end.

The 16 city auditions will commence in mid January and run till March. Each regional round will be conducted for upto four days in each of the cities, and the final selection of the 25 Cricket Star finalists will take place at RCA in Jaipur in early April.

Boys (15+) from schools, colleges, and universities will be eligible to send in their entries. Out of auditioned final candidates, that enter the world-class academy, a further elimination process will see the talented cricketers being trained and tested by invitees from professional T20 teams. The weak links will then slowly but steadily be evicted from the academy based on performance, till a final Cricket Star T20 XI is chosen. The TV audience with the Celebrity Judges vote for the XI players and the one with maximum votes will be declared the winner.