Patna: Budding cricketers on Sunday padded up for selection at the M.S. Dhoni Cricket Academy.

The academy conducted the selection trials for Under-17 players and were given 10 minutes for each tryout.

The turnout was huge for the state's biggest cricket academy, helmed by India's one of the most successful captains, Mahendra Singh Dhoni,

The trials were conducted by former team India player Ajay Ratra, a wicket-keeper-batsman from Haryana, who has played six tests and 12 ODIs for India and was also part of the India team that won the Under-19 World Cup in 2000.

Ratra said: "Our basis for selection was how natural a player's game was. For a fast bowler we were looking for his run up and style of delivery. For a spinner, how a player held the ball was a must. In a batsman we keenly looked at his style of holding the bat, hitting balls and footwork."

An academy official said: "The selections were for the U-17 category and it will proceed with other categories. Limited number of players will be selected for training."

Kumar Shanu, who had come for the trial, said: "The craze for cricket has gone up after the IPLs. Only talented players were getting berths in Ranji and Team India, but the IPLs have opened many doors now."

Another player Abhishek Ranjan said in the absence of good cricket academies in Patna, "they were hopeful that the M.S. Dhoni academy will be a good platform to showcase their skills at the national level".