Kumar Sangakkara Scholarship

We all know that new Hurricane Kumar Sangakkara is one of the greatest batsmen to play the game and his accolades in the cricket world go far and beyond. But now Sangakkara is making a mark in the academic world with a scholarship to be named after the Sri Lankan great at the University of Tasmania.

The Kumar Sangakkara Scholarship, is the result of a partnership between the Hobart Hurricanes and UTAS and will be available to eligible Sri Lankan undergraduate and postgraduate students. This new scholarship will see Sangakkara make appearances in Sri Lanka and India to promote UTAS as well as assist with promoting the Uni through various marketing activities.

Sangakkara, who has scored over 28,000 International runs, was a former student at the University of Colombo studying law until he had to put his studies on hold due to the demands of his cricket career back in 1999.

He went on to become one world cricket greats, winning countless International cricket awards including ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2012, Test Cricketer of the Year in 2012, and ODI Cricketer of the Year multiple times in 2011 and 2013. He was also named the Wisden Leading Cricketer in 2011 and 2015 and was the youngest person and the first active international player to deliver Crowdrey lecture, which was widely praised by the cricketing community.

Hobart Hurricanes General Manager Michael Roberts said Sangakkara’s association with UTAS would be a boost for UTAS and cricket fans across Tasmania and Sri Lanka.

“The power of Kumar is huge, especially in Sri Lanka and India. He has a significant following through social media and the partnership with the University of Tasmania will see him undertake appearances in Sri Lanka and India as well as using him in an Ambassadorial role” Roberts said.

“In Australia we follow teams, but over there they follow players. We saw this first hand last year when the Hurricanes played in Sri Lanka and India as part of the Champions League. Our players at the time in Malik, Bollinger and Hilfenhaus we mobbed wherever they went”

“The Hobart Hurricanes believe we have a role in not only promoting our Club but the State of Tasmania. This partnership, by using one of our players, is a key part of our strategy to take Hobart and Tasmania to the world”
“Kumar is one of world cricket’s great’s and it’s fantastic he can be involved with our university while representing the Hurricanes in the BBL. We can’t wait to have him here in December.”

(http://www.hobarthurricanes.com.au/)