Talent Resource Development Wing

The Talent Resource Development Wing (TRDW, sometimes also called Talent Resource Development Scheme (TRDS)) was an initiative of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to spot local talent, looking beyond the established cricketing centres. The TRDW was established in 2002 with former India national captain Dilip Vengsarkar as its chairman, when Jagmohan Dalmiya was BCCI President. Many successful players of the Indian team, including World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, RP Singh and Piyush Chawla were first recognised via the TRDW. Prior to this system, the local state cricket associations played the key role in choosing players for that state's team and recommending names to national level selectors. This led to frequent accusations of favouritism and corruption; charges that past players and state selectors would tend to belong to state capitals and urban centres, thus forming a closed club which small town players found it hard to break into. The TRDW was intended to allow talent to be discovered directly by the BCCI, and fast-tracked into being groomed for national team duty via the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and zonal academies. TRDW-selected players have played an important role in the Indian team's performances over the past few years, crowned by the unprecedented success of Mahendra Singh Dhoni as India's captain, and the 2011 Cricket World Cup victory.

The scheme consisted of 20 Talent Resource Development Officers (TRDOs) who watched local junior matches around the country, rated the players on a uniform objective scale, and reported directly to the National Junior Selection Committee and the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Thus they bypassed state cricket associations, which often were urban-centric, politicised, and tended to have their own favourites. Since multiple TRDOs assessed the same player on an objective scale, the chances of favouritism or bias were minimised. The TRDW does not exist in its original form now, lapsing in 2006 after a power-shift in the BCCI and the exit of Dalmiya. The NCA has also decided to focus primarily on Under-19 Cricket.

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