PRESS RELEASE

‘MILLION DOLLAR ARM’ CREATORS PITCH ‘MILLION DOLLAR BAT’ CURVEBALL

US baseball hitter to become the next Indian cricket star

Launch season 3 of million dollar arm early 2015

Bollywood version of the ‘million dollar arm’

Friday, December 5 2014 – Sports agent J.B. Bernstein, portrayed by Hollywood’s Jon Hamm in the 2014 Disney film “The Million Dollar Arm”, and his business partner Ash Vasudevan revealed their latest talent search which will see US baseball hitters compete for the chance to play cricket in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The co-creators of “The Million Dollar Arm” launched their latest venture “The Million Dollar Bat” at the Host Cities summit, where experts from the fields of sport and major events are gathered recently in Dubai. They were joined by Rinku Singh, 26, and Dinesh Kumar Patel, 25, the subjects of the American biographical sports drama that hit the big screen in May. In 2008 the aspiring Olympic javelin throwers became the first Indians to sign a professional sports contract in North America after beating 37,000 hopefuls to win Million Dollar Arm reality TV contest and joining Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates, despite neither having thrown a baseball before. Today’s announcement put a new spin on the competition.

The search for the Million Dollar Bat will take place in June 2015, with the winners eligible to play for an IPL franchise come November. Prior to visiting India, Ash Vasudevan, took time out to visit Dubai Sports City and see first-hand the scale of Dubai’s cricket infrastructure with the view to potentially using the facilities on offer to train competition finalists. As the base for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Academy and the ICC global headquarters, the Million Dollar Arm cohort toured the world class set up where international teams including Ireland and the New Zealand A squad have recently trained.

J.B Bernstein, who managed Barry Bonds, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, for over a decade, said: “We are really excited to announce ‘The Million Dollar Bat’ in India. When we first came to India no one had ever heard of baseball. We ‘borrowed’ the American Idol format, replaced the microphone with a baseball, and followed the old adage: ‘show me a guy who throws hard and I’ll teach him how to pitch’. Along came Rinku with his 88 miles per hour arm and the naturally talented Dinesh; the rest is history. Now we’re looking to do it again but with cricket. Having spoken to a number of professional baseball players and cricketers myself, there is a great deal of crossover between the two sports – especially in terms of hand-eye coordination – and I’m confident we’ll find ourselves a US-born IPL star.”

While here in India, Ash Vasudevan, added: “We’re offering someone from the US the rare opportunity to throw themselves into a totally different sport, in an entirely different country, and to go up against the very best in front of a huge audience. Anyone wondering just how big cricket is only needs to look to the immense following the IPL has in India and right across the region; we’re offering an opportunity to be a part of that.”

In fact, the Million Dollar Bat contest triggered the curiosity of ​the IPL COO, Mr.  Sundar Raman who ​giving his vote of confidence for the idea said, “Anything that helps grow the game of cricket and brings​ new talent in is very welcome”.

The man with the Million Dollar Arm, Rinku Singh, portrayed in the film by Indian actor Suraj Sharma who rose to fame in Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi’, said: “I still can’t really believe the journey I’ve been on since 2008. I’ve heard J.B. & Ash say since; that no one really believed in the Million Dollar Arm idea when it first brought it to the table. This new contest gives someone the chance to change their life. I know a few hitters back in the US who will be keen to give it a go!”

J.B Bernstein and Ash Vasudevan also announced the launch of Season III of The Million Dollar Arm talent-hunt contest in collaboration with Sports Mantra Pvt. Ltd. With the view towards potentially creating a Bollywood version of the Disney hit in the near future. With a strong partner here in India – they feel confident for the new season of the Million Dollar Arm to reach a far wider level of awareness. Neeraj Sareen, CEO of Sports Mantra and Golf Premier League said, “We are closing in on bringing on board an IPL team to partner with us and support this unique cultural exchange between baseball and cricket. We also are planning a robust broadcast and media campaign to take this initiative to a PAN India level. After the success of the movie based on our story – there is a lot of public awareness which we want to bring to life in the new season.”