New Delhi, India may well have found four promising pacers of the future.

Thanks to Gatorade Pacers 2010, the innovative talent-hunt initiative by the world largest-selling sports drink brand Gatorade, Vrinder Singh (Mohali, U-19), Gurudas Shenoy (Mumbai, U-22), Maninder Sidhu (Mohali, U-22), Raman Chahar (Delhi, U-22) have got a lifetime opportunity to hone their bowling skills at the ICC Global Cricket Academy (ICC GCA) headed by former Aussie great Rodney Marsh for seven days.

The four aspiring pacers were chosen after an intense nation-wide one month-long talent search by Gatorade Pacers 2010, spearheaded by former Indian fast bowler Manoj Prabhakar. The four youngsters will also be joined by the winners of the Gatorade Pacers 2007-2009.

Speaking immediately after his selection, an excited Raman Chahar, who hails from Delhi, said "This is an opportunity an aspiring cricketer such as me can only dream of. Thanks to Gatorade Pacers, I got this chance to showcase my talent, and now this golden opportunity to visit Dubai to train at the ICC GCA. Playing for my country in the future is possibly no longer just a pipe dream."

Ms Geetu Verma, Executive Director - Innovations and Business Development, PepsiCo India Holdings, said "Gatorade Pacers has over the past three years emerged as a definitive benchmark in identification and grooming of young pace bowlers in India. It gives us an immense sense of fulfillment to be able to play a constructive role in the nurturing of these talents in the country. I am sure the ICC Global Cricket Academy - with all its top-notch coaches and state-of-the-art training facilities - will further help these youngsters develop their skills."

Mr. Rodney Marsh, legendary Australian cricketer and Director of Coaching, ICC Global Cricket Academy, said, "The ICC Global Cricket Academy and Dubai Sports City are delighted to host the winners of Gatorade Pacers. The ICC GCA provides state-of-the-art modern training facilities and international coaching guidance to talented young cricketers, and we are really looking forward to having these budding fast bowlers here and help sharpen their bowling skills. It an exciting prospect to see the next generation of Indian pace bowlers from close quarters and train them. This is a wonderful initiative to encourage and support promising sportsmen. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the selectors of Gatorade Pacers who have helped choose these best of the best out of thousands of participants from across India; after a comprehensive one month selection process."

Mr. Manoj Prabhakar, who has played the role of Chief Selector and Mentor at the Gatorade Pacers 2010, said "I am absolutely excited about the promise of these four talented pacers. Brand Gatorade is doing an extremely good job for Indian cricket by unearthing raw talent and giving them a platform to reach for greater heights. This opportunity to the youngsters to train at the ICC Global Cricket Academy is just fantastic...cricketers of our generation did not have this kind of opportunities. I am sure they will take full advantage of this chance to come back better bowlers."

Gatorade Pacers 2010 was launched in Mumbai on 15th December, 2010. The selection process involved measuring bowling speed with a speed gun coupled with expert assessment of action, fitness, accuracy and potential of the bowler.

Gatorade Pacers 2010 edition saw over 5200 aspirants from over 2500 schools, colleges, Sports Clubs as well as State Cricket Associations across India in the regional rounds. These rounds were held for U-15, U-19 and U-22 talent across the seven cities of New Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore.

Notes to Editor

About ICC GCA

Managed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the ICC Global Cricket Academy will be an important focal point for international cricketing excellence and education. It will provide a unique environment for coaching, game education and training in outstanding facilities and expertise. The indoor training facility has got 7 indoor pitches, an indoor practice fielding facility, 38 outdoor practice pitches (28 turf practice wickets and 10 artificial practice wickets), class rooms, meeting rooms, two cricket ovals, swimming pool and other leisure facilities. ICC GCA has internationally qualified and experienced staff with latest technical equipment including video analysis and hawk eye technology and a cricket specific training gymnasium. The Academy will offer a variety of courses under a series of systematic and carefully planned training programmes with skill improvement and professional excellence as integral components. National, county and state level teams as well as development squads will benefit from the programmes at this Academy.

About PepsiCo India

PepsiCo entered India in 1989 and has grown to become the country largest selling Food and Beverage Company. The group has built an expansive beverage, snack food and exports business and to support the operations are the group 41 bottling plants in India, of which 13 are company owned and 28 are franchisee owned. In addition to this, PepsiCo Frito Lay snack division has 3 state of the art plants. PepsiCo business is based on its sustainability vision of making tomorrow better than today.

PepsiCo offers the world largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 18 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in over 200 countries. With more than $43 billion in 2008 revenues, PepsiCo employs 198,000 people who are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.