Young pacer Dhaval Kulkarni, the under-19 cricketer who played for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, on Wednesday became the first recipient of the Dilip Sardesai Scholarship.
As the winner of the scholarship, established in memory of the late Test batsman by the Mumbai Cricket Association, Kulkarni will visit Australia for a six-week training stint at the Australian Cricket Academy and the expenses for his trip will be borne by the MCA.
Sardesai, one of the chief architects of India's historic first-ever triumph in a Test series in the West Indies in 1971, died at the age of 66 in July last year in Mumbai following multiple organ failure.
Sardesai was the first and only cricketer from Goa who represented Mumbai in Ranji Trophy, played 30 Tests for India, notching up 2001 runs with five hundreds at an overage of just below 40.
Kulkarni, 19, played in 10 out of 14 matches for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and picked up 11 wickets at 21.45 per victim, with three for 33 as his best performance. He is yet to play in first class cricket.