Until recent years cricket was never seen as a career option for a teenager to pick. Kids were asked or rather be told to focus on their studies and try their hand in the game part-time. While many of the Indian cricketers aren’t really very educated or hold prestige degrees, some were able to focus both on studies and the sport.
Here are the top 4 highly educated Indian cricketers:
Nickanamed as ‘The Wall’ for his incredible patience and concentration levels, Rahul Dravid is India’s second-leading international run-scorer, having amassed 24064 runs in a 16-year career. Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented Karnataka at the under-15, the under-17 and the under-19 levels.
He also gave enough time to his studies and earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce from St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore. Dravid made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991, while still attending college and was selected for the Indian team while working towards an MBA at St Joseph’s College of Business Administration.
India’s leading Test and ODI wicket-taker, Anil Kumble is a Mechanical Engineer! Kumble gained his pre-university education from National College Basavanagudi and then graduated B.E from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering (RVCE) in Mechanical Engineering in 1991–92. He made his first-class debut for Karnataka aged 19 while still being a college student.
Kumble is the only Indian – and one of the only three in the world – to have taken 10 wickets in a Test match innings. Nicknamed ‘Jumbo’, Kumble prised out 953 international scalps.
Former India pacer and currently an ICC match referee Javagal Srinath, another studious lad from Karnataka, is an engineer. He attended the Marimallappa High School and pre-university college in Mysore, before getting a Bachelor of Engineering degree in the field of Instrumentation from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE) in Mysore.
With 551 wickets to his name, Srinath is India’s third-highest wicket-taker among pacers; Srinath is one of the fastest pacers to have played for India.
Ravichandran Ashwin is known to be one of the smartest brains in cricket, who not only bamboozle the batsmen but also schools the umpires regarding the laws.
India’s second-highest Test wicket-taker – 442 Test wickets – and one of the country’s greatest long-format all-rounders, the Tamil Nadu-born cricketer attended the SSN College of Engineering and graduated with a B.Tech degree in Information Technology. His time at St. Bede’s was particularly crucial in his forming as a cricketer because it had a cricket academy where he turned from a medium pacer to a spinner.
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