 Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Good evening. Welcome back to stay informed, stay connected, shape the future. Our monthly series of interactions between the Australian High Commissioner, the Honourable Barry O'Farrell AO and Australian Alumni. Our discussion today, which is very timely, will be on sports and the impact of COVID-19 on this field. Joining us on this episode, Barry O'Farrell, the Australian High Commissioner in India, Senaina Jazwal and Sahail Chandok. They are passionate about sport, all of them. They have been sports people themselves and are closely associated with the sector, both in Australia and India. Welcome Barry, Senaina and Sahail. Before we start, just a quick reminder on the house rules. Please keep yourself muted at all times to avoid disturbing the proceedings. If you are having any bandwidth issues, please try switching off your video to enjoy the session. Should you drop out, please try logging in again and rejoining. If we drop out due to network work issues at our end, please stay patient and stay in there. We will join back as quick as we can. We have received questions from many of you. Thanks so much. We will be keeping up some of the relevant questions this evening, taking them up, but there might be some we can't get to and we will try to bring them forward in other sessions. Until a few months ago, if I said sports, Australia and India, I'm sure most of you would immediately think of our brilliant cricketers pitted against each other with a stadium full of fans. It's hard to believe that it was only five months ago that we had that fantastic women's T20 World Cup final with 100,000 odd people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Our current situation feels so different from that now. I hope this evening's session will offer some insights not only to the breadth of Australia and Indian engagement in sports, but what the future holds with the current disruptions. Before we move on, on taking up the hearing from our fantastic panellists, I would like to invite the High Commissioner, the Honourable Barry O'Farrell, who is himself a keen supporter of sports in the Australia-India partnership to give us a bit of an overview and introduction. Thank you, High Commissioner. Well, thank you all again for joining us tonight. Can I just say I'm glad Pat finally corrected it. I'm a sports consumer. I do not have a history in sport, as Pat suggested in his earlier introductions. Indeed, when I used to play cricket in my son's father's group, they used to call me morally because they knew what was going to come out of my hand. So I have no sporting credentials at all, except like many people around the world in India and Australia, I'm passionate about watching it. So I'm pleased to see here, to see if I'm looking forward to the discussion with Sonayana and Sunil. Since all of you have spent time in Australia, you'll understand what I mean when I say it's a sports away life for most Australians. Some think this is part of our natural advantage, such as our beaches and our wide open spaces. Nevertheless, a lot is due to our government's commitment to ensuring that sports promote healthy lifestyles, strong communities and industry opportunities. In 2018, the Australian government released a sports strategy, Sport 2030, which is the National Sport Plan. And this sets out its commitment to ensuring that Australia remains the world's most active and healthy nation, known for our sporting integrity and success. Well, at least that's, they're the goals. The plan outlines four priority areas, firstly, encouraging more Australians to be more active, more often, achieving international sporting excellence, safeguarding the integrity of sport, and finally strengthening Australia's sport and recreation industry. Many of these built on Australia's already renowned capabilities in sport, such as our world-class infrastructure and education expertise. Sporting bodies around the world, for example, recognise our premier training institution, the Australian Institute of Sport, for its high performance programs. International bodies also hold in higher regard the sports governance structure established through the Australian Sports Commission, a body funded by the Australian government. Australia's engagement with India and the sports sector is broad and multi-layered. Everyone knows about our great cricket rivalry, but I'm sure Sahil can elaborate from his experience. But both as Sahil and Saneh's careers demonstrate, sport engagement between Australia and India, whether competitive or on the field or cooperative off the field, spans many sports and subsectors. The sports industry was identified as a promising sector in Australia's India economic strategy, and in 2017, Australia and India renewed MOU on sports cooperation. And this move recognised Australia's strength in the sector and India's ambition to improve its sports administration and its infrastructure. Australian government and institutions have also developed strong partnerships, particularly at the state level in Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan. These partnerships have helped improve capability and capacity, develop athlete pathways and broaden grassroots participation. The success of one such partnership between Punjab and the Victoria University paved the way for the university's agreement with the government of India to assist with curricular research facilities and laboratories at India's first national sport university. Another Australian university leading the way is Deakin University, Saneh Zalmamata. The 2020 university world ranking Saneh Deakin is a top 10 university for sports science and sports management. Both courses attract a strong cohort of Indian students. Finally demonstrating our breadth of experience, the University of Queensland has entered into a partnership with Jindal University to develop sports law and governance courses. In technology, Australia is home to Catapult Sport, a world leading sports analytics to optimise the athlete fitness performance and recovery. And Catapult started in 2006 as a partnership between the AIS and the Australian Government Cooperative Research Centre and today is a listed company with over 340 staff working with almost 3,000 teams across 39 sports. Catapult's technology of course is used by India's national football and hockey teams, six Indian super league teams including the champions teams, Balingaroo and Chenayun and Symbiosis International University. The tech also makes for great entertainment and whenever you hear great commentators such as Sahail analysing players is a good chance that Catapult is assisting the data for their insights. Our commercial sports partnership with India go even further in sectors you'd not immediately associate with sport. For example, the Walmart company, a leading Australian wool brand, Micro Mysuit, is working with Indian fitness companies to manufacture sportswear in India. Even Sata Patel Stadium in Amitabhar is the world's largest cricket stadium, host to the US president earlier in the year, was designed by an Australian architectural firm Populus led by an Australian architect Maxwell Glenn, not Glenn Maxwell. Our engagement is not just commercial, sports impart values and lessons that are vital for broader development objectives such as health hygiene, women's empowerment and of course disability inclusion. In 2016 the Australian government launched the $4 million Australian sport, Asian sports development partnership program to expand Australia's sports for development cooperation across Asia and in India this program funded several partnerships with a focus on health, inclusion and sustainability through a range of sports from boxing, hockey, all the way through to to netball. Meanwhile, DFAD's small grants direct aid program has helped women's wheelchair basketball teams compete in international tournaments, use Kabati as a way to educate girls in Mumbai slums on hygiene and promote a disability inclusion with India's World Cup means blind cricket team. These initiatives build positive people to people ties between our two nations and do an enormous amount for those involved. Our Indian partners drive much of this moment, just like in cricket or tennis timing is everything in business and diplomacy and I've visited India many times over the years to observe how it's changing to my eyes, consumers are increasingly conscious of health and fitness. The success of Australian vitamin supplements and skin care company Swiss is a telling example and the company launched in India in February this year and five months later during the Amazon promotions day it received a $1 million Australian order, one of its biggest single overseas orders in its history. So thanks to the rising incomes and access, health and well-being markets are no longer restricted to big metros and athletes have also gained prominence in popular culture. I'm told that in recent years Indian filmmakers are focused on the stories behind successful sportsmen and women wanting to revisit might be MS Tony the untold story, particularly after recent announcements and the most notable I'm told is Dungal the highest grossing Indian film ever and these films inspire young Indians to embrace from all backgrounds to in to embrace sport. Meanwhile government initiatives such as Calo India which is providing training support to promote to promising sports talent and the new education policy are encouraging steps towards fostering sporting talent and these initiatives should be applauded. Sadly today we find ourselves caught in a disruptive moment and as someone who starts his day with a visit to the commission small gym I know the toll that COVID-19 lockdowns have on motivation and activity. Many of us find ourselves exercising in front of laptops in our living rooms. Team sports have taken a particular hit and who knows when we'll see professional events return to normal yet it's also more important than ever to ensure that people remain to ensure a fit and healthy population. In India like elsewhere in the world the pandemic is inflicting immense pressure on the healthcare system and this is not directly struck by the virus. Those not directly struck by the virus are experiencing the mental health issues associated with lockdowns and isolation particularly among our young people. However I believe that existing Australian India sports relationships provide a strong foundation on which we can build a happier healthier and more competitive future together. We don't need to wait around until after the pandemic. Today's innovative ideas will ensure a strong rebound for the sports ecosystem in the longer term. With 50% of the population of India under 28 it can make a critical shift now to ensure a more healthy sports culture post pandemic and I look forward to hearing from the experts joining us tonight. Great Australian alumni about how sports ecosystems are responding to the COVID-19 crisis and where they see the emerging opportunities for Australia's sporting cooperation. Thank you. Thank you High Commissioner for laying down for us some broader context for today's conversation. I would now like to welcome Senaina Jazwal who works with Tennis Australia and is a club development officer for Tennis in Queensland to talk about her journey into the world of sports, how she sees the future of this sector and the possibilities of collaboration between our two countries. Senaina is a qualified sports management professional with experience in a variety of roles from marketing, public relations, stakeholder management, events and operations. Senaina has a masters of business degree in sports management from Deakin University which we heard about before. She currently works with Tennis Australia and is involved with strategic planning, community engagement and the overall development of tennis in Queensland and as a Queenslander who likes tennis that's very important. Senaina is an ardent sports person herself and passionate about soccer and football and tennis. She has volunteered her time with community sporting clubs, Australia University of Sport, Cycling Victoria, World Wildlife Fund and the Deakin Graduate Business Society. Over to you Senaina. Thank you, thank you all for joining us and of course for having me here. My journey in the world of sport I think began way back in my childhood when I was brought up in the tea gardens of a Sam and my father has always been a very passionate sports person himself so my sister and I both were encouraged to play sport in our formative years and it was probably in boarding school I went to the Assam Bali school in the eighth and the ninth grade where I think I did take that decision to specialise otherwise I was playing everything so focused on tennis and football and that became something that I was absolutely passionate about and enjoyed it a lot. As Patrick touched upon I've got experience in rules in marketing, public relations and before moving into the sporting industry I was working in a media and entertainment company and I decided to make an off-court career out of sport in 2015 and that's when I travelled to Melbourne, did my massive business in Deakin University and I think it's been quite a journey since. I presently work for the governing body of tennis in Australia mainly assisting in sport development, assisting a lot of our regional clubs in Queensland with community participation and you know just supporting volunteers with the kind of resources and assistance that they require to be able to play the sport. I would like to share though in terms of a few things about the Australian sporting industry that has been core to my growth and experience and when I moved here I think the importance of volunteering was something that really came up and just recognition for these volunteers in your community and making them champions of our sport and getting the community involved and actually making a difference to how the sport grows. So for me apart from I mean I did have the opportunity as Patrick mentioned to volunteer with organisations like Australian University of Sport, Cycling Victoria where they did a little bit of research and assisting them in increasing participation for women riders in the state of Victoria. Also did an internship with Deakin University the South Asia team and the Adidas India when I came back to India for a two-month holiday. I don't think my mother was too happy with that because it's been all my time working in it was fantastic. I think working with Adidas India as well they were working on the FC Bahia News Cup that was engaging across 3,000 young athletes across four cities and over a span of two months so working with them on event operations and promotions. I think all this volunteering experience really counts for something and you know assists you in growing on practically when you're in the field. The other thing was the strategic approach that sport takes in Australia so you've got national bodies that then roll out a strategic plan rolling into the state member associations like Tennis Queensland like I work for and then also the community clubs which are on a majority run by volunteers adopting that strategic plan. I think it's important to even at a community level to adopt a strategic approach to whatever they do because in the end that's where the government the council the federal funding for sport comes and I think assisting them in you know building those sustainable venues and it was extremely interesting to take that viewpoint and obviously with everything that we do now it is us that we follow very closely in terms of having a strategy in our plans. Importance of networking and staying connected another core experience that is something that that really pushed me into you know getting into and working with the Commonwealth Games, the Australian Open, Brisbane International all major events I did reach out to Women's Sport Australia which was an organisation of ladies that had come together in Melbourne where it was formed but they actually got me connected to Lauren Penny who has been in the sporting industry has an events company of her own and I think that mentorship from another woman in this industry I mean it was a I mean even though I had studied theoretically in Australia I think it's very different to the way the business model is when you're actually on ground working so having that direction by someone who had the experience was absolutely fantastic. Just a few more points was another thing was the focus on grassroots sporting programs and I know India has a lot of grassroots programs and it's fantastic with the way they're reaching out to you know kids I mean at a younger age to educate them about the sport and I think with tennis specifically that I can talk about is that even the grassroots programs have a modified approaches modified play making it easier smaller rackets less compression balls and I think all of that makes it easier and fun for players at a young age so you want them to come back to the sport you want it to be fun you want want to be able to retain them and I think the last one was mainly that inclusive approach to all a all different sports so you've got AFL rugby cricket tennis swimming they all all all the national bodies have their strategic plans they have their pathways whether that's on the field or on the court or whether that's offered for officials coaches tournament directors so I think that was something that was interesting to see where all sports are treated equally and also inclusiveness in you know raising the profile in the overall inclusion space when it comes to multicultural communities linguistically diverse communities you've got disability underrepresented groups in in Australia indigenous programs with different partnerships that we have so I think overall there was a lot to take away from in my theoretical and practical experience and eventually I think one more thing I'd like to add while working with major events I thought sport is rather than just the on court players and elite performance there's a lot of focus on the experience that people have when they come to an event like that so when we did host the ATP Cup last year for the first time in Australia and my role specifically in Brisbane was working on consulate engagement and activating these diverse communities so you come for the very important event so when you have Africans French all coming together you know what their teams and also be a part of you know tennis and celebrate the sport so it's been a fantastic journey so far there's so much I've learned and so much more to go so thank you for having me as well. Sonayana thank you very much for that fantastic outline of sport the sporting environment in Australia I would now like to introduce Sahail Chandok our next panelist Sahail is a former professional sports person this is amazing hailing back from three generations of sports persons Sahail is currently one of Australia's leading well sorry India's leading sports presenters in fact you're probably leading in Australia too and commentators and you may recognise him as the face of coverage of a lot of major sportering events covering the Indian Premier League, Pro Kabati League, Wimbledon, Indian Super League Football, the ICC Cricket World Cups, Premier League Badminton, the Rio Olympics and many others. He's also a co-founder of sports and tech startup Kabatiata where he applies his marketing and strategic business consultant skills learning uh learned during his degree in commerce from the University of Adelaide. While studying Sahail became India's first recipient of the Oxford and Cambridge half blue award for sporting excellence in cricket at Adelaide University. During his time in Australia Sahail also became a Cricket Australia level two coach and coached at the South Australia Cricket Association and in Women's Cricket the likes of Australian World Cup winners Megan Schutt and Shelly Nischke. Over to you Sahail. Thanks so much Pat, thanks for the introduction. Good evening Honourable Minister, good evening to all the alumni and everyone else that joins us this evening. It's a pleasure and thank you for inviting me to share my thoughts on the future of sport and also synergies between two countries one that's I guess the home that I was born into and the other that I called my home after I've spent you know four years there. I've got to say that although I'm a bag of hot air for Olympic now as a sports broadcaster it's still hard to put some of the best years of my life into a few minutes but I'll I'll try anyway. To give you a brief background I was born into sport I guess in in many ways into three generations of motor sport but I was maybe the black sheep that didn't take two to four wheels much to perhaps the delight of my dad who maybe the entire cost of my cricket career would have been the cost of the right front tire of my brother's Formula 1 car so it worked out in one sense but I've got to say I think the choice to move to Australia wasn't something that was a long-term one it was sort of an immediate one I was someone that grew up playing and watching every sport possible and I think that passion for me vibed with what Australia stands for as well. I was actually all set to go to Loughborough University in Leicestershire in England and everything was said my brother doesn't live far from there I knew people in England and he was all set to go there and then suddenly the choice of Adelaide popped up got in touch with the university and the cricket club there and somehow made the decision to to see the sun for more than 10 days of the year and chose Adelaide over Leicestershire and I think looking back and I don't just say this because I'm here on an Australian platform but looking back it's probably the best decision or one of the best decisions I've made in my life. I think I wanted at that time more out of life than just being a cricketer but to develop more as a person and I think that's what I found a lot with Australia and just the lifestyle there as well just the outdoor nature it vibed with who I was as a person. I started university in 2006 and sort of that's where I began life as a cricketer as well and I can't say it all went smoothly or well at the start. I started I remember in C grade and had scores of 0, 10, 4 and 0 in my first four games and I was thinking wow this is not really the dream I aspired for but this is where I think Australia was very different because following that round of scores and no matches thereafter I went into whole season training and based on absolutely nothing except for my training ethos and the work put in there I was drafted into the A grade squad straight after with no match play beyond those well not inspiring scores and sure enough had a 50 on my A grade debut and was suddenly finding myself alongside the likes of Jason Gillespie and Sean Tate and Darren Lehman and all of these guys and it's sort of the the meritocracy of it for me that really stood out and I think for someone who knew absolutely nobody in Australia to land up as a kid out of nowhere and be moved up the ranks so quickly based on just ability and work ethic rather than anything else for me that was something that was really important looking back as well. You know it's funny I think the faith that that went into it as well just it vibe with who I was as a person but also the discipline aspect of putting more into university life I think the myth of you know the balance of sport and academics not going hand in hand is something that I think is a complete myth and that's something that I found with Australia there's always this balance about making sure you can do as much as you can with your passion whether that be cricket football you know rugby or anything else just going to the gym you don't make a hue and cry about it you just get on with it and I think when you look back at at some of the Australian coaches that have taken on the India job as well it's funny because for the lack of the better or for better word the no bullshit approach of Australia really vibe with me I loved it because it meant that I could grow faster it meant that I could make changes quicker it made it meant that I could know exactly what I needed to do with feedback that was honest and I know that doesn't sit very well with with the Indian mentality sometimes of wanting to go around the bush and come back to the point of be softer about it but I think that was something that really stood out to me as well in terms of getting better faster and I think that was for me why I wanted to do as much as I could within that span of time and it took on a double degree there so I did study I did come away with the marketing award at the end of it so my folks were happy as well at the end of it all but I think for me the cricket got better and in my final year scored three back-to-back hundreds in Melbourne Sydney and Adelaide came away after coaching a women's side and taking them to second in the Premiership that year and I think for me the sort of the coaching aspect of women's cricket came full circle when I managed to see Megan win the World Cup on Indian soil in Mumbai actually a few years ago and it was a sort of a goose bumpy sort of nice moment to just say hang on that that really meant something to me because I think that's another aspect that India is growing with today women's sport and women's cricket but I don't think it is where it needs to be I think there's a there's a large thought process about how only women should be involved in women's sport and and only women understand the women's side of women's sport here but I think even given the way Australia has done the WBBL or you know heads women's football in Australia I do think there's a lot that can be learned from the system there and can be adopted into India having said that you know coming into India over the last decade now and having switched jobs and in some way losing the dream of chasing a cricket playing goal but now being a broadcaster there's a lot that I think I took away from Australia in the sense of the confidence building that I got from there the ability to have you know built my own life and career on my own in a country that I knew no one when I went into as well and I think sport teaches you a lot of that better than anything else and and like I said before I think Australia's sporting culture is something that most other countries around the world are looking to imbibe right I think India is moving forward with the Kalo India games with a fit India movement and we're heading in the right direction but I still think you know we're behind the eight ball and it's great to see a country of 1.2 billion take the step towards that so you know what I think we're all you know we've all got our goals and we've got these scripted parts towards how we've got to get there I think it changes along the way and you've got to sort of be like water like a bit like water and be fluid enough to see challenges and move around them and see them as stepping stone to something else so for me you know like I said I've spoken more about sport here than than anything else but I love the academic side of it I think there was a practical side to it which really stood out to me as well where you were you had so many different cultures coming together I've got to say I had an absolute blast I think I had a total of maybe three Indian friends it wasn't conscious but I think I went out to to see a different side of the world to you know vibe with a different side of the world and I love that I had more genuinely close Australian friends than anything else and today I've got a home in every city in Australia maybe every time I head across so I think that's the the added bonus of it but at the at the end of it all I think as humans we're all born to play I think we were all born with an innate nature to want to play we've got a ball a bat a rattle and a box that we play with as kids right and that's either nurtured as we grow up or it's blunted depending on your parentage or your society or the midst of academics and sport and I do think that Australia has that ability to nurture that while also seeing the other side of life and finding that sort of middle ground to to a balanced life so for me that's my takeaway from perhaps my my four years crunched into a few minutes but I've got to say that the three years at university and the added year at the cricket club there and spending time at soccer and the women's cricket team that I coached with were some of the most memorable and I look back now and I've got great friends from Australia back then and and great friends now that I share the screen with in the form of guys like Brett Lee and Dean Jones and Mitchell Johnson and guys like that who sort of keep giving me the flavour of Australia every time I miss it so it's nice that it's sort of moved around and maybe I trusted life to say okay I'm done with the cricket playing career with involuntary basis but it's nice to see that side of it in touch and no it's it's wonderful to say in touch with Australian universities as well and I guess that's the one thing I'm hoping there can be more of I think the the one takeaway I would like to see more of is is more proactive synergies between Australian universities with with those of us that are here and would love to do more and love to be more involved so thank you for having me and and hope I can add a little more value on the future of the sport as well with everyone's questions. Thanks very much for that Sahel for that fantastic outline of your experience both in Australia but then coming back to India and what sports all about I think both Sahel and Sonayna you've kind of really outlined the different pathways not just being athletes what out what's out there for administrators event managers coaches and we can collaborate together as countries so we've got plenty of time which is great perhaps about 20 minutes for some question and answer thanks very much to all our fantastic alumni who brought to us some brilliant questions traversing many of the themes that we've already heard from our three speakers tonight so thanks very much for that to kick things off and one of the big themes that we've also been thinking about has been the impact of COVID-19 and a shout out to Manpreet Singh, Kanika Chowan, Disney George and Andrew Dore whose questions really centered around this. I'm gonna I'll start with Sonayna but just to give you an outline we're really keen to hear from both of you about a roadmap for the next three years in sports I think we're talking with the High Commissioner before our session COVID-19 vaccine some time away what does it look like how can we make it work what's going to be the impact on domestic sporting competitions and how can Australia and India work together to support each other through this difficult time. Sonayna over to you first I think um yeah thanks for that just with it like the times that we live in at the moment we're COVID-19 are just rolling out different things for the community to be able to support and to actually play sport I think that's been something that's been interesting so I would just go back to answering the roadmap for the next three years sorry about that in terms of the strategic approach that I did mention when I spoke about my experience in Australian sport I do feel that in the next three years this strategy would there would be a lot in it that would focus on recovery of sport and how we come back on what resources do we require as you know as governments or companies that are in a position to support communities that are playing the sport I think the strategy another thing as part of the three-year order would be something that I work very closely with everyday also pathways and how can we create within a safer environment how can we create better pathways for players for others who are off court as well so in terms just to go into the universities and you know the partnerships that we could have I in the region that I work in we have in September we've got a Australian university of sport that has an intervacity university competition and I feel like there's so many platforms competitions opportunities to actually build that India-Australia relationship with as part of those pathways in the next three years as part of you know strategy for us to work on better partnerships as well so whether that's government partnerships or private partnerships uh so yeah I think playing you know on a on a if it's specifically university level you start off with uh state university competitions in national and then possibly looking at exchange programs on an international level as well between India and Australia thank you thank you that's an idea I think that's a probably quite a good point about you know probably have to stage return things starting more local to state to national and then international and a lot of sport um so hey are there any thoughts about the impacts of COVID-19 and perhaps about how Australia and India can get through this period together in sports yeah I was just listening to you saying it's important to start small and go from there I think uh India in some ways has adopted the opposite where we're going big and going or go home strategy with the IPL coming up around the corner so um I think it's going to be an interesting one because uh look I think the word of 2020 for me in terms of broadcast is the bio bubble right I think everyone's talking about the bio bubble and how to secure yourself um I've got a lot of friends who are involved in the England West Indies cricket series that just took place in the England Pakistan series and while to the to the rest of the world you you see it on telly and it looks all smooth and easy and and my brother's been involved with Sky Sports in the UK on the Formula One calendar and I know they're getting tested every five days and every four days and you know getting a swab shoved up their nose and it's not it's not pleasing either you know but at the same time I think you've got to understand how meticulous these processes have to be from a broadcast perspective I mean I know with the IPL around the corner we're talking about even in Mumbai and within Mumbai doing things remotely but us stationed in a hotel and not living in in our own homes for for two months where we're only allowed to interact with the six people that I'm on air with and and you know by by week three I'm sure we're going to be sick of each other but that is the the reality of the situation and I think it's the only way forward but I also think it's a strong message to say hang on we're not going to get beaten by this virus right and I think um there are ways around it it's not foolproof but it's about how you can come back from it right you're always going to get a case somewhere how do you respond to it and and I think that's going to be a big test for a country like India as well you know I work with star sports with the IPL coming around and I know processes are in place and and we're getting different colored armbands and things like that to figure out which bubble you're in and and all of that's going to happen but I think what I really like and it's been encouraging to see whether it's a Premier League whether it's Formula One whether it's cricket tennis to some extent although Djokovic put a little black mark on that one um you know otherwise it's it's been fairly successful to see the way sport is rebounded and and you've got to understand that there's so much at play here from sponsorship from advertising from people's jobs I mean I won't have a job right if this if this doesn't come back to to fruition or you've got your like people or your your event guys your you've got all of this as part of one large industry coming together and I think what's really good to see is I said earlier is the fact that there aren't ways to counter it but you've got to be absolutely certain that you've got every little process in place because one little pop in that bubble an entire bubble breaks and you know there's no coming back from there so look I think it we're in uncertain times um no one knows where we're heading as you said Pat I think it's going to be a year and a half two years before we see a real vaccine uh that that works and I think you've got to brace for it right I think you've got to brace for the new normal you've got to pivot uh you know I'm a co-founder on our tech and sport platform called Kabaddi Adda and we were essentially trying to build the cricket for Kabaddi but we've had to pivot and move into e-sports right and we did that within the first two weeks of this because we realized there's a need for it uh and I see that being and I'm not someone who's an e-sports massive fan either look I'm a purest of sport but I think that is the future right you see it and and the pandemic has reminded us even more than maybe e-sports is part of that future and you can't ignore it so I just think you've got to be more open minded to new possibilities and change what you think was the only way to go uh it's it's all gone out the window and I think uh it's making us more less rigid as people and more open minded which at some level it's not a bad thing either thanks that's a hail and I'm going to stick with you for the first part for this and then we'll we'll kick to Sonana um uh and I think that's some really good points elite sport is coming back uh in a really controlled way um and one of the the the questions that um many of our alumni put to us and something we've been thinking about too I know many of my colleagues at our consulates in India uh has been the impact on women's sport um you've been background as a coach um I think am I correct that with the IPL I think there's going to be the there's going to be some of the games the women's games are going to be part of the tournament part of the bubble yes yes it will be yeah so I think interested for both of you starting with Sahail to really explore a bit how can we get and I think that's probably a good a pretty good example but how can we bring back women's sport and what does that mean for Australia and India yeah I think we're we're in two different places here right I think Australia is far ahead when it comes to women's sport uh whether it's uh you know the reception side of it and and how people perceive women's sport and I think India is very different in that sense as well and that's that's the reality of it I you know I you can't beat around that fact I think on the flip side there are efforts I think last year's women's workup did a whole lot for women's sport in India it really gave Indian cricket a platform and I mean Indian women's cricket a huge platform suddenly the names like Smithy Mandana or you know Julian Goswami and Mittali Raj of course was was in amongst it but you've got Jamima Rodriguez and all these youngsters who suddenly household names the only fear is obviously after such a high where everyone was talking about it there's now this pandemic that's it and suddenly it's dwindling away because it was supposed to be a series between India and England and that fell away by the wayside as well and I do think there's got to be more consistency and I think that's where you know obviously the it's not ideal for Australia's cricketers to not be playing the women's IPL because I know it coincides with the women's BPL so you know it's it's a tough one there because you had to find this window and fit into it but I think that's one of the the tricky ones to try and slot into given the calendar that we've got on the other side of things I do think there's a lot a large opportunity to find more synergy and maybe more Indian administration has to go across to Australia and just visit a league whether it's women's soccer whether it's the women's BPL and just get an idea of how to promote it right what is perception or what was perception like before this kicked off how are how are people and how are these leagues marketing women's sports differently to men's sport because I think you've got to understand that even to an audience in India you've got to have different messaging it can't just be the same it can't be hard messaging to to you know non non cricket fans with who've never watched sort of women's sport before in the same manner that you would with the men's IPL I mean if you're expecting what you get with the men's IPL from the women's IPL you're going to be you are going to be disappointed and you know I even no way you know I'm all for equality like I said I speak from a perspective of having coached women as well and but every women's cricketer will understand and will voice the fact that they are different physically there's there's differences there's there's approach wise differences between the men and the women's game as well and you've got to embrace the good of each right and then highlight that so what exactly you highlight I think determines how it's perceived and how it's watched so I think there's a lot of learnings there from Australia to an Indian perspective of how to engage audiences and how to make it a bit more lucrative to sponsorship as well so I know you some thoughts on this perhaps organizations in Australia who would be good partners for India and women's sport so I know you're there hi Patrick can you repeat that please I lost you there sorry I was just going to say over to you but it was just a thought perhaps just yeah thank you so I think I'd just like to add on what you said I think one of the core things is being able to share that knowledge and sharing that resources and encouraging women and as you mentioned the differences the challenges that they go through I think you know myself trying to get into the sporting industry I found that I had to take a step back get my knowledge base and you know learn more about it and then put myself in a better position to then start working in the industry so it wasn't one day just wake up saying I want to work in sport because there were so many barriers and preconceived notions and just the mentality as well that I think it's the culture of sport for women that you know in order to get that equal opportunity as well that's extremely important now I do realize that you know there's been a lot of talk and a lot of build around women in sport in India and now with covid people may feel this heart and knowing that you know now there's a little bit of a stop to it but you know I just see that it's this time is so crucial for us as an industry that we actually utilize this to be able to plan a safe return not only for I mean everyone in sport but specifically programs for women and that's something we're trying to do like internally I'm just sharing my experience at tennis queens and when we couldn't go out there and we couldn't visit our communities support them on the ground for facility visits or run competitions and tournaments the entire organization broke down into project groups and we've come up with plans for the next four years on how we can actually for women specifically come up with emerging and future leader programs that could potentially involve mentorship programs that could potentially involve you know giving players like body and opportunity to come and talk to women about experience like you know their experiences in sport so I think women relate to other women's experiences and I think when those experiences are positive it encourages and I think so here I agree with that hard messaging and marketing because it's I feel like the experience is that for me it was it allowed me to break down my my subconscious thought processes of oh this is going to be hard and you know make my way through whatever opportunities came my way or whatever we built I mean just so whatever opportunities that came by so I think yeah we we do need to utilize this time very efficiently plan for what we can put together for women programs leadership programs professional development you've got so many virtual learning opportunities and I think it would be perfect with you know giving Indian women as well as younger girls an opportunity in schools through some schools partnerships with you know alumni for example you're actually more than happy to help out and I know so many of my batch mates would be as well to actually be able to support in that space that just to add to to Sonana there and to to this theme I think the one thing that I hope comes out of covid times is obviously I think the the reality of it which isn't as prevalent in Australia is the basic hygiene right when you go to a playground or a field in India you're you're looking for a separate change room for women first you've still firstly got to have a clean change room for men which quite often doesn't exist in so many rural places or parts of India as well and I think hopefully with with covid and and the need for sanitization and hygiene maybe it'll encourage more playgrounds more fields of play to start having a separate women's change room separate women's bathroom and things like that because I think small things like that will encourage more women to come into sport you know these are the basics just simple basics of facility management right and creation of of sports facility in the country and in a country like India I think that's a big barrier you've got enough barriers for women to enter sport I think this is a simple one that can be broken and and that's where I think you know just getting to understand how facilities are catered to both men and women equally can make such a big difference as well thanks for that both of you I think you're right there's a lot we can crack on with in the meantime during covid 19 to create opportunities for women in sport it's a nine a question from you from Shobha Makarala and it's a little bit connected to the Australian High Commission but the AHC is supported cricket matches for people who are blind and as an extension are you considering holding sport competitions for disabled in India and maybe that might be a power to reckon with and are you considering it and I'll add to that the question about adding on to just what Sahel said about what can we do for disabled people in sport at the moment and I can say before I hand over you to Sanayana that's something the High Commission is really focused on we continue to support we've done blind cricket we've had stuff to do with the deaf cricket associations in India and we plan to keep that going we see that is really important an area of engagement between Australia and India but Sanayana any thoughts about disability in sport at the moment um well it's fantastic to hear that we are doing some work in the disability space in India as well I think in my role specifically it's extremely even within tennis we work with a lot of underrepresented groups disability being one of them and I think uh we one thing I'd just like to start with are there obviously partnerships and things that I can mention but what I did notice is that we've organized social and fun programs where people with a disability have been on court and hit a ball with them and I think that's the thing about this like you know we keep saying underrepresented groups and you know people who yeah it just I think that we need to treat it differently it is a disability but people have done so much and they don't see themselves as different as different so I think that uh collaborating or doing a program with people who can come it doesn't have to be competitive it's social uh you're 90 minutes you're having an open session for tennis music and that's we have one of the programs that we run is open court session uh the some of us on uh you know really is playing uh and yeah they were just better than me at some point and I was just having to run for the ball and trying to get the ball across the net but uh I think that's important we when you say you want to make sport inclusive it's actually creating a delivery network where the community is truly welcome and represented and um I think that could be done with the way we do it is to include you in holidays that you run you want to make it a fun experience for people coming in providing them with equipment providing them with uh you know wheelchairs if they don't have it though most people do but you know having the equipment there to make it welcoming for them um I think uh even showcasing uh underrepresented groups and having a little bit of a community engagement at major events makes so much difference because it actually reaches out to the community and tells people because those are the major events that actually get broadcasted so you know if you want to build that culture of an inclusive space uh it's also about educating everyone in the country about uh you know we there are people playing the sports that come and join us uh so we've uh done a lot we do have partnerships with uh sporting we're trying to get a partnership with sporting release associations get more people playing tennis there is uh the national disability insurance scheme that actually supports programs in Australia on funding for any costs that are associated with disabilities so um yeah and I think one of the main things is also with the coaches or the people who are as I said the delivery network just educating them about you know how to be around I think it can be tough when I started in this role it was a little challenging because I think you've not been in that space before but as he's just about everyone being comfortable where they are and creating programs where everyone can be involved so yeah thanks for that thanks for that Sonina so um just with the time remaining just pulling together the strands of a number of um questions uh for our three panelists uh to finish up on um what is the future of india australia sports collaboration where do we go from here where do you see the greatest opportunities and just to flag some of the some of the ideas and opportunities that some of our alumni have mentioned uh rub need power uh has noted the new education policy and university links uh harsh chain on technology engagement uh Gagan Puri on Australian facilities uh and how where india can go to go be better at the Olympics and uh a few questions on product from product kubaraju avajit chawan and super kid gosh on uh Australian football codes and where they fit into the pace uh but they're just a few ideas uh to start off um we probably have about about a minute each for everyone to kind of give their kind of headline points uh we'll start with Sahel I think all those headlines are just read out pretty much sum up all of it I mean really good points there from from all the questions actually because I think I think tech is a big one right I think we're heading into a an age where uh I like the term localization right global localization where we're in that sort of phase where uh the world has gotten even smaller if that was even possible but uh look I mean I run a startup that runs on sort of tech and sport and I just think the reality is in india you're able to pull off things which at 115th or 120th the cost as you would in Australia but you've got the expertise in something else that you might have in Australia which you could lean on and I think that's an obvious synergy to to get companies and startups that maybe are looking for an inroad into India which has a market size of 1.2 billion people and you've got really talented young startups here that have great ideas great networks within sporting fraternities as well uh and I think there's a great synergy there to to tap into uh and look for you know these collaborations with Indian companies that's one obviously the second thing being the university games and and the culture there I do think there's room to to create cross partnerships and and maybe have an india australian university games identify some of the top students and and athletes across disciplines and maybe send them across from the keloid games or all the university games to australia to go get trained for a two to three month period I know how much it did for me as a cricketer uh I know India's up against it today in terms of uh you know being quite advanced but these are just some of it I mean I could go on with uh with synergies right and I think uh you know that's a larger chat when I meet you guys in person as well and I love to sort of have that opportunity to to explore that but I just think there's there's so many opportunities in in a world that's getting smaller and smaller and relying on so much tech as well brilliant there's a lot for us to unpack there in future conversations so Naina um yeah I think you did mention that the both of you have covered a lot of points but um I did as in terms of I think mentorship programs is something that would assist a lot of people future and emerging leaders within the sport they've got professional development workshop opportunities that are already happening sharing experiences like opportunities like these webinars and keeping people connected um I would like to touch upon one thing in terms of support and knowledge in terms of accreditation and courses um and this comes from feedback from one of my university batchmates who has moved back to India and I think the challenges that they face in in you know there's obviously a lot of support and pathways on court but in in order to create pathways for people actually working or wanting to take up a career as a coach and you know so you go from a community level to a junior development level and then you know to an elite level so things like that I think where we can share that knowledge in between Australia and India you've got um ways of encouraging um sorry improving sustainable facilities and empowering our communities with resources to actually be able to run those and do that um sport and recreation funding opportunities have been great during the time of COVID for our community clubs so I think that is something in partnership or any funding opportunities for people out there uh as I already touched upon encouraging more partnerships uh special schools uh for disability uh associations um linguistically that was communities gender diversity and you know actually working through these partnerships as I mentioned some really good private startups there government organizations how that trickles down into uh the state and then overall just having a strategic approach to roll it out in the next few years um will be in a much better space I call it. Interesting lots of good ideas there for us to work on um I commission on. I'll look just briefly Pat I you know I think that this crisis has reinforced to us how we can use social media to connect I think knowledge and experience exchange is really good and whether it's whether it's a formal academic whether it's mentoring or as Sahayel said whether it's Australian sports which have returned to the field in team sports whether it's any of the codes of football uh explaining how they're operating their bubble their learnings to make it easier for the next sport that wants to to take their cab off the rank and I think I think you know localization is a fantastic word because the technology we're using tonight and many other variations have kept us in touch and and happily we're reaching out for each other even more at this time. Thanks that high commissioner and that might be something that we can talk to with Australian sporting bodies um following this conversation sharing our knowledge experience with bubbles including with the IPL as well they might be able to teach us a few things as well. Before we finish could I ask everyone if they wouldn't mind turning their cameras back on who's on the call we'd just love to get a photo of everyone if you mind doing that just give everyone a chance to do that. Alpha our camera is always on of course it's all Pat's ego yeah yeah it's it always thanks everyone sorry our team and the other river just taking some photos so thanks very much for that and and while they do all do that I'd just like to thank our parents for that Sannainaj as well for Hal Chandler and the High Commissioner Barrio Farrell for I think outlining for us I think where look sometimes with COVID-19 we can all get a little bit pessimistic but there's some opportunities there there's things that we can explore between Australia and India and I don't know about the rest of you but that's really motivated me to get into the opportunities in the sports sector between our countries so thank you to our panelists and thank you to the alumni cross India knows in Australia have come up with some brilliant questions really focused us on key issues and finally thanks to all of you who have come on to participate tonight thank you all and have a good evening. Thanks thank you panelists thank you look forward to meeting you both thank you thank you for having us.