5 Highly Educated Indian Cricketers: Since a majority of the Indian players hail from poor backgrounds, the cricket fans assume that they left their school or colleges before completing their courses. Several cricketers have even admitted that because of their passion for the sport, they decided to quit learning and focus only on their game. However, not all cricket players have the same background.
Some players had achieved massive success in the field of education before they pursued a career in cricket. Here’s a look at the 9 Indian cricketers who focused on studies before sports:
Ravichandran Ashwin
Many south Indian cricket fans would know that the Tamil Nadu-based off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin completed his engineering and even worked a regular job before he became a cricketer. He did his schooling from Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan and St. Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School while he even worked for Cognizant Technology Solutions after completing his graduation.
Javagal Srinath
Another player from south India to feature on this list is the right-arm pacer from Karnataka, Javagal Srinath. He completed his engineering from Mysuru but then became a cricketer. Srinath had a very successful career in the cricket world as he led the Indian pace bowling attack for a considerable amount of time.
Anil Kumble
Former Indian head coach, Anil Kumble made life difficult for the opposition batsmen with his leg-spin bowling. Unlike the other spin bowlers, Kumble bowled at a swifter pace. While playing in the spin-friendly conditions, he received proper support from the pitch as the batsmen found his deliveries to be unplayable. However, not many of them would know Jumbo has a degree in the field of Mechanical Engineering to his name. He achieved this educational milestone after studying at the Rashtriya Vidyalaya College of Engineering.
Murali Vijay
The Chennai Super Kings star, Murali Vijay is the next name on this elite list of highly educated cricketers. While the names mentioned above on the list had completed only their graduation courses, the Tamil Nadu-based opening batsman has a Post Graduate degree in Economics to his name. Unfortunately, Vijay’s international career never took off as he received lesser opportunities to play for the country than he should have. He could bat well in all the conditions, and his exploits in the IPL indicated that he could be the next three format opener of the Indian team. But, the rise of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan denied him to make it big in the international arena.
Amay Khurasiya
Before he got selected to the nationals, he had cleared IAS exams and had got his degree. The former Indian cricketer showed great promise during the ODI’s in 1999-2001. But, Amay is easily the most educated Indian cricketer ever.