21 November,2025 12:55 PM IST | Mumbai | Sujay Shivalkar
Jatin Paranjpe
In India, cricket has emerged as an evergreen sport, and over the years, the nation has been playing a crucial role in producing star players at the top level.
Similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL), the former cricketers and well-wishers of the sport have come together to provide an opportunity for the grassroots cricketers to shine at the highest possible level by launching the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL).
Following the success of the previous two editions of the league, ISPL is set to launch its third edition. Speaking exclusively about the success of the tournament with mid-day, the Head of Selection Committee, Jatin Paranjpe, said, "I think from what I am seeing, every season has a better talent pool than the previous one, actually. So, the talent pool for the third season is the best of all three seasons so far. So, I am really excited about that".
"A lot of these players will have very, very bright futures, you know, in the years to come," he added.
The tournament is backed by a strong leadership group featuring core committee members Sachin Tendulkar, Ashish Shelar, Minal Amol Kale and Suraj Samat.
Further speaking, when asked about the aspects that a selector sees in a player, based on which the potential has been judged, the former Team India cricketer said, the ability to smash the ball at a distance is one of the big factors that he looks at.
"Let's talk about batsmen first. So, I think the ability to hit a long ball, the range hitting, the ability to hit sixers is something which we look at very, very carefully. Big hitting ability is the one big factor for us," the 53-year-old former cricketer told mid-day.
When it comes to bowlers, Paranjpe said that it depends on the variations that a bowler can bowl.
"From a bowling perspective, we look at variety. (1:56) Are they able to bowl yorkers? Are they able to bowl slow ones? Are they able to bowl slow bouncers? (2:03) We look at such 3-4 criteria. Because at the end of the day, one team is made of a combination of players, right? (2:13) So, we try and offer the best combination that a franchise will be looking for, essentially," he said.
"Then, if the talent is not there, we also have to think about everything from a team owner's perspective," he added.
Paranjpe also spoke about how the league helps in fetching new talent in different cities of India.
"I think India is a very, very big country. So, the process of widening the talent hunt is going to be on for the next 10-15 years, basically. So, every year, we are trying to take the selections to more and more cities. Because we firmly believe that there is talent in every corner of India. And we are always staying true to our objective of straight to the stadium," said the veteran of 62 first-class matches.
"We want to take this to as many cities as possible. Because we know for a fact that India has the youngest population in the world. So, there is a lot of talent available and we want to go and look in every corner for that talent," he concluded.
The third edition of the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL) is set to kick off from January 9 to February 6, 2026. The venue for the tournament will be Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat.
