Fans of the game of cricket would remember that afternoon in 2003 when in the sixth over of Australia’s innings, Aravinda de Silva bowled to Adam Gilchrist, the ball passed his bat, and was caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara.The Sri Lankans appealed, but the umpire didn’t judge him out.
The next moment, Gilchrist started to walk to the dressing room – in a World Cup semifinal!Sportsmanship had won the day.
Today, Gilchrist is the brand ambassador of the University of Wollongong, which is set to become the first foreign university to set up campus in India, in the GIFT City of Gujarat.
“Cricket, or any sport, holds a lot of lessons for management students,” Gilchrist recently told FE over a video call. “From effective leadership to having a united team, what works in sport also works in business and at the workplace. Honesty is another trait that is important in both sports and business.”
People management
A team captain has to make the most of the other 10 players, and has to inspire them to make the most out of themselves. Kapil Dev did this in 1983 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2011 – the only two times India won the World Cup. Similarly, Imran Khan in 1992, Arjuna Ranatunga in 1996 and Steve Waugh in 1999 were leaders in people management – and People Management is today a sought-after course at schools like IIM Bangalore.
“People management, leadership, personality profiling, adaptability, resilience … all these skills are as important on the ground as off it,” Gilchrist said. “Be it cricket or any sport, or be it the workplace or a university, these behavioural skills will take you a long way.
”But the University of Wollongong won’t start with behavioural skills courses in India. Its initial programmes will cover areas such as finance and computing. “We are building a suite of programmes that are around business, ranging from accounting, business administration, digital aspects of finance, and so on,” he said. “Behavioural skills are a part of every course provided by the university.”
University of Wollongong will start advertising for students at the end of 2023, and aims to begin academic programmes in June 2024. It will start by taking a small floor in an existing building, and its plans for campus building are in progress.
The admission criteria for the GIFT City campus will be the same as Australian campuses, as the degrees will be awarded as per the TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency) guidelines. Students who enrol at the GIFT City campus will have the opportunity to transfer to campuses in Australia and Dubai. Tuition fees in India are expected to be half of what international students pay in Australia.
As far as working in Australia after studying at the GIFT City campus is concerned, that is an area which will fall under the Australia-India free trade agreement.
However, even though the university has a former star cricketer as the brand ambassador, introducing sports-related courses will take time. “There are a lot of parallels between sports and business, and around skills such as leadership, where I will be able to help,” Gilchrist said.
The 48-year-old University of Wollongong is ranked 162nd globally in QS World University Rankings, 14th in the QS Top 50 Under 50 Rankings, and 61st in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.