The objectives of the Council's sport program are to encourage relations between Australian and Indian sports people and organisations, and to demonstrate and promote Australian expertise in sports services and products.

The Australian High Commission in New Delhi, together with the Council, assisted the Australian Sports Commission in negotiations with Indian sports authorities on a sports capacity development workshop held in New Delhi during the latter half of 2001. The workshop was designed to demonstrate Australian expertise in sports coaching and management for Indian sports administrators, government personnel, and teachers and staff of the Indian National Sports Authority.

The Council provided funding to the Australian Cricket Board for a second year of the Border–Gavaskar Scholarship program, providing coaching and training for promising young Indian cricketers at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy (CBCA) in Adelaide. Participants in the second year of the program, selected by Alan Border (an inaugural member of the AIC) and Sunil Gavaskar (a member of the AIC's Indian counterpart, the India Australia Council) included batsman Deepak Chougule, wicketkeeper–batsman Parthiv Patel, and all-rounder Vinayak Mane, all from the National Cricket Academy, Bangalore. The three players trained at the CBCA from early June to mid July 2001, with the Board of Cricket Control for India funding the final two weeks of the training program.

The Border–Gavaskar scholarship program has provided benefits for both Australian and Indian cricket and has quickly established itself as an important feature of the Australia–India cricketing relationship. Several of the program participants have gone on to achieve places in the Indian Test cricket team.

Australia–India Council Annual Report 2000–2001

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