Mumbai: A highly-qualified sportsperson is a rarity, not only in India but across the world. A majority of those who take sports seriously and manage to graduate to the international level, miss out on basic education or higher studies even if they wish to because they get pre-occupied with training and competitions.
It’s no different with cricketers.
There are a few exceptions, of course, like in every aspect of life.
If one were to identify the most educated cricketer who played for India, the natural temptation will be to think of someone from the south. The names of Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jawagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad immediately come to the mind as they are all graduates. Some even completed their B.Tech courses.
But the answer lies elsewhere.
Mumbai pacer Avishkar Salvi happens to be the most educated cricketer to have played for Team India.
The Mumbai-born Salvi, who modelled his bowling action on Australian pace great Glenn McGrath, is a PhD in Astrophysics. He could have been working at ISRO or even NASA, had he not opted for a career in cricket.
Having made his international debut in 2003 at the age of 21, Salvi played 4 ODIs for India, 62 first-class games for Mumbai and West Zone and IPL for Delhi Daredevils before an injury cut short his career prematurely.
