Border-Gavaskar scholarship winners arrive for training at CBCE

Sydney, June 19 (UNI) Winners of the Border-Gavaskar scholarship medium pacer Kshemal Vaingankar, opner Gaurav Dhiman and wicket keeper Pinal Shah arrived here to commence their six-week training program at the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence (CBCE).

The scholarship programme, founded in 2000 as a joint initiative between Cricket Australia and the Australia-India Council (AIC), is designed to provide talented Indian cricketers with training and match practice in Australian conditions, utilising the tutelage and programmes of the CBCE.

The 2006 programmes is the seventh annual initiative and is being made possible by the financial support of the Australia India Council (AIC) and the BCCI. Part of the scholarship will see the players compete in the Emerging Players Tournament next month.

The trio was selected by a BCCI committee chaired by former Indian great, Sunil Gavaskar.

Head Coach of the CBCE Tim Nielsen said the scholars would certainly benefit from their experience here.

''We pride ourselves on delivering the best cricket programs available and the three scholarship winners will walk away with a lot more experience and understanding of cricket at the elite level and of Australian conditions,'' Mr Nielsen said in a statement here.

Mumbaikar Vaingankar is a product of the National Cricket Academy in the under-22 age category. He plays for the Mumbai Cricket Association and took 40 wickets at an average of 15.2 in the last domestic season.

Dhiman was a member of the India under-19 team for the last World Cup while Pinal Shah also an NCA product has performed well during the last couple of seasons in the Ranji Trophy Tournament.

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