MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals today announced its association with the South Australian Government in an exclusive cricketing endeavour that will give 15 young Indian cricketers an opportunity to travel to Adelaide, Australia to experience South Australia’s world class cricket facilities as part of Adelaide’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 program. Rajasthan Royals will use its expertise to select 15 young cricketers who will make up the Dream Team 15.
Youngsters born between 1st January 1997 to 31 December 1999 will qualify to enter the competition for a chance to be selected. The program will reach out to students from schools from different parts of the country while the selection trials will be held in Delhi and Mumbai in late October / early November 2014 in the search to identify a group of 15 cricketers.
South Australian Premier, The Hon’ble Jay Weatherill who is on an official visit to India today announced that Members of the Dream Team 15 will receive training from top coaches of the South Australian Cricket Association and will play matches against teams of South Australian school boys of the same age.
Addressing the media, Mr. Raghu Iyer, CEO Rajasthan Royals said, “As a team, Royals have identified, nurtured and given playing opportunities to many of India’s top young cricketers. Therefore, it is a privilege for Rajasthan Royals to partner South Australia in a unique endeavor that will help Indian school children receive fine training from top coaches of the South Australian Cricket Association. We thank the South Australian Premier, The Hon’ble Jay Weatherill for taking forward such a commendable undertaking.”
Unmukt Chand was also present from Rajasthan Royals. “I consider myself fortunate to be part of the wonderful Rajasthan Royals family. I use the word family because that’s exactly what we are like when we come together in the form of a team made up of the game’s finest experienced cricketers, fantastic management, and young cricketers like me. I am sure an exciting endeavor such as this will go a long way in inspiring young players to take up the sport professionally and one day, play for the country,” said Unmukt.
Mr Weatherill said “Our objective with this program is to harness the passion that Indians have for the game and provide an opportunity to good cricketers who have the skills and love for cricket, but have not enrolled in a formal training program.”
Adelaide Oval will host what is considered to be one of the biggest matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 program when defending champions India take on Pakistan on 15 February 2015. The members of the Dream Team 15 will be watching the event which is expected to be a thriller of a match and will leave an aspirational imprint on them.
Ever its inception, the team has been at the forefront in terms of nurturing and promoting new talent.
