Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals on Friday appointed former Australia cricketer Lisa Sthalekar as its advisor for youth and junior cricket programmes.
Royals had launched its youth programmes for both boys and girls in October last year. Sthalekar flew down to Jaipur to be part of the felicitation ceremony.
The 39-year-old India-born Sthalekar will be responsible for creating a year-round programme for both boys and girls. The programme will include high-performance camps and competitions for the selected individuals. She will also organise school tournaments to introduce more youngsters to cricket.
Sthalekar, who was a member of Australia Women's World Cup winning team in 2013, said: "Rajasthan Royals has done exceptional work in unearthing cricket talent. They have then been successful in providing these individuals with the right platform to grow. More so, I am delighted to be part of programmes that are giving equal opportunities to talent across girls and boys, while also spreading the reach of the game."
"I am extremely pleased to join Rajasthan Royals as an advisor. I am looking forward to my role of identifying and nurturing cricketing talent, especially the girls so that they can make a mark for themselves in the cricketing world," Sthalekar added.
Former Australia cricketer is the first woman to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in ODIs. Sthalekar amassed 2728 runs and picked up 146 wickets in ODIs.
The former Australia skipper announced her retirement from international cricket a day after Australia won the 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup.