Abbatangelo visits India with CA Scholarship Program

After meeting up with Short in Singapore, the pair flew to Mumbai a place that neither had experienced before.

“We arrive early in the morning in Mumbai and there were people everywhere,” Abbatangelo said.

“It’s such a full-on place…the heat, mosquitos and pollution really punches you in the face.”

The pair visited the Global Cricket School in Mumbai where they worked on their skills with the help of some expert coaching.

“We trained at the school for nine days with the coach there Umesh Patwal, who is Afghanistan’s batting coach and was assistant coach with Kochi in the IPL – he really knew his stuff,” Abbatangelo said.

“There were also two girls from the English side who were there with (former England player) Paul Jarvis.

“Each day there would be around 20 net bowlers who would just bowl all day, even when we stopped to have lunch they would just keep going.”

Abbatangelo got a taste of the glitz and glamour of the Indian Premier League, attending the match between Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors.

“The atmosphere was incredible – probably 50,000 people jammed in everywhere, it was look being at a rave party,” Abbatangelo said.

The Northcote all-rounder led the Victorian side to its best ever result in February’s Imparja Cup and is already excited about next year’s tournament.

“We had a really young group with three of four older players who respected me despite me being a bit younger,” Abbatangelo said.

“Even we can keep the side together I think we can win it next year.”

His own performance in the tournament, which yielded 244 runs at an average of 40.67, saw him named Man of the Tournament with Northern Territory’s Adrian McAdam and named in the Black Caps side for the Team of the Series.

Abbatangelo was also selected in the 17-man Indigenous Development Squad, with other Victorians Fletcher Stewart, Bohdi Walker and John Green, to tour India from September 30 to October 11 2012.

May 27 to June 3 is National Reconciliation Week. The dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey-the anniversaries of the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision. For more information on NRW visit http://reconciliation.org.au/nrw2012/