ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/20/06 27 June 2006
Australia announces annual Border-Gavaskar cricket scholarships.
Six others selected for Australian Studies Fellowships
Three of India’s most promising young cricketers commenced their six-week “Border-Gavaskar” scholarship program at the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence (CBCE), in Brisbane this week.
The scholarship program, founded in 2000, is a joint initiative between Cricket Australia and the Australia-India Council (AIC), a bilateral Council established by the Australian Government to promote linkages between Australia and India in a range of areas of mutual interest.
Welcoming India’s young cricket ambassadors, AIC Chairman Darren Gribble said the AIC was delighted to continue to support a program that provides such a valuable opportunity for emerging young players. “These scholarships play an important part in AIC’s program to promote mutual understanding through exchanges in many areas, including sport,” said Mr Gribble.
"Australia and India share a passion for cricket and the Border-Gavaskar cricket scholarships' initiative is an excellent example of collaboration between the two countries,” added Mr Gribble.
Named in honour of cricketing legends and former captains, Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, the scholarship program is designed to provide some of India’s most talented young cricketer’s with training and match practice in Australian conditions, utilising the tutelage and programs of the CBCE.
The 2006 program is the seventh annual program supported by the Australia- India Council and the Board of the Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Part of the scholarship will see the players compete in the Emerging Players Tournament in July, giving the participants some valuable match practice in Australian conditions. The players selected this year include:
Kshemal Vaingankar (Mumbai Cricket Association): Right-arm medium-pace bowler, he is a product of the National Cricket Academy’s under-22 age category.
Gaurav Dhiman (Karnataka State Cricket Academy): Right-hand opening batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler, Dhiman was a member of the India under-19 team for the last World Cup. He was also a member of the KSCA team which visited Australia in 2005.
Pinal Shah (Baroda Cricket Academy): Wicket keeper and right-hand middle order batsman, he is a product of the NCA under-19 squad and a member of the India under-19 team for the last World Cup.
Selections are made by a BCCI committee, chaired by Sunil Gavaskar, on the basis of their performance in under-19 and under-22 tournaments, also taking into account the potential and specialisation of each player.
Prominent among previous recipients of the scholarship include Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Shiv Sunder Das, Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir.
Australian Studies Fellowships
The Australia-India Council also announced the recipients of the 2006-07 Australian studies fellowships. The recipients include a professor and two research scholars of the Jawaharlal Nehru University; a professor from IGNOU and two from Burdwan University.
Congratulating the recipients of the Australian studies fellowship, Mr Gribble said, “the fellowships aim to consolidate the education and research relationship between the two countries and will build further links between Australian and Indian universities with a view to increasing teaching and research on Australia”.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome the addition of the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales and the University of South Australia (through the Hawke Institute) to the consortium of universities,” Mr Gribble added. The Australian Studies Fellowships program is managed by a consortium of universities on behalf of the AIC. Led by Curtin University, the consortium includes Monash University and the University of Queensland.
The fellowships cover a wide range of areas including Australian literature, politics and history; Environment and health; Film, media, communications and performing arts; Issues relating to Indigenous Australians; Ethnicities and multiculturalism; Tourism and Gender studies .
For further information, please contact, Ms Asha Das, Country Manager, Australia-India Council, on phone 4139 9900 Extn. 147.
Details also available at: www.dfat.gov.au/aic, www.india.embassy.gov.au