Top 10 athletes from Karnataka

The state of Karnataka has time and again produced some outstanding athletes who have gone onto make the nation proud with their incredible achievements. Each of their stories to stardom is unique and one filled with a lot of hardship.These athletes mesmerised the world with their talent and proved that determination and persistence are all you need to succeed in any endeavour.Let us look at the Top 10 athletes from Karnataka to have represented India at the highest level.

#1 Special mentions

It is extremely tough to include many talented athletes from Karnataka within a slideshow. There are many others who have contributed immensely both to the state and the country.

The likes of Erapalli Prasanna, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Sunil Joshi , Roger Binny, Syed Kirmani, Robin Uthappa , Vinay Kumar have served both state and national teams with aplomb.

Ashwini Nachappa is another remarkable athlete who shot to fame by beating P T Usha twice in her prime. Rohan Bopanna is yet to win a Grand Slam, but the Bangalore lad has shown glimpses of achieving it soon with attacking tennis over the last 12 months.

Nisha Millet is an incredible swimmer from Bangalore who has won over 600 gold medals in several competitions during her 16-year career. She won an astounding 14 gold medals at the 1999 Manipur National Games.Millet was the only member of the Indian swimming contingent that took part in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

#2 Rahul Dravid

The Wall of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid is one of the most technically gifted batsman in the world. Dravid is currently in fourth position for most runs in test history with a total of 13,288 runs.

He was criticised for being a slow batsman in One-day international (ODI) cricket, but Dravid answered his critics in style by scoring 10,889 runs at a decent strike rate of 71.24. He was known as Mr. Dependable for his ability to rescue India out of tricky situations several times.

Dravid pioneered India to a historic series win in England in 2007.

#3 Prakash Padukone

One of the best Indian badminton players of all time, Prakash Padukone did not get off to a great start in his junior career. He lost in the opening round of the Karnataka State junior championships. Not the one to lose hope, he made a sterling comeback to win the title two years later.

Prakash was unbeaten at the national level for seven years and continued his impressive winning run to the international level by clinching the Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1978.

After bagging the Danish Open, Swedish Open, Prakash became the first Indian to capture the prestigious All England Championships title in 1980.

He is the co-founder of Olympic Gold Quest which aims to nurture sporting talent in the country.

#4 Anil Kumble

The third highest wicket taker in test cricket, Anil Kumble was India's go to bowler for close to two decades. Known for his precise line and length, Kumble bamboozled batsmen with his variations and was the match winner on numerous occasions.

With 619 wickets in tests, Kumble is behind two spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne in the all time highest wicket takers list. Kumble took all the 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan in Delhi to become only the second bowler in the history of test cricket to do so after Jim Laker.

Anil Kumble was inducted into the ICC hall of fame recently.

#5 Pankaj Advani

A consistent performer in both snooker and billiards, Pankaj Advani has many records under his belt. The Bangalorean is the World record holder after claiming world titles in both snooker and billiards in all formats.

A 2-time Asian Games gold medallist, Advani is the first person to win the IBSF World Billiards Championship to win twin formats (timed and points). The 29-year old is still going strong and looks set to add more records to his kitty!

#6 Gundappa Vishwanath

A versatile batsman who could handle spin and pace with ease, Gundappa Vishwanath had all the strokes at his disposal. Vishy, as he was known by his teammates scored a century on debut in Test cricket against the mighty Australians in Kanpur. He was adept at playing in any condition and helped team get out of trouble on numerous occasions.

When India were struggling at 76/6 on a bouncy track in Chennai, Vishwanath scored a gutsy 97. India went on to win the match. He played an important role in India chasing a mammoth total of 403 in the fourth innings against the West Indies in Port of Spain.

He scored 14 centuries in 91 tests and India did not lose a single match when he went past the three figure mark.

#7 Sharath Gayakwad

Born with a deformed left hand, Sharath Gayakwad is one of the most promising paralympic swimmers in the country. He studied in Little Flower public school, where swimming is to be taken mandatorily by all students. Sharath's parents weren't welcoming of this idea until their son started training when he was nine.

Trainer John Christopher spotted a bright young talent in Sharath and tutored him for seven years. All the hard work paid off when Sharath became the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the Paralympics in the 2012 London Games.

He had a superb outing at the 2014 Asian Games where he broke P T Usha's long standing medal record by clinching 6 medals at the event.

#8 Mahesh Bhupathi

One of the flagbearers of Indian tennis for two decades, Mahesh Bhupathi is the first Indian to taste Grand Slam success. He won the Australian Open mixed doubles title partnering Rika Hiraki in 1997.

There was no looking back from there for Bhupathi as clinched four doubles Grand Slams to go with eight mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. The Bangalorean entered an elite club of only eight tennis players to have completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles.

Bhupathi has also played a critical role in India's good showing in Davis Cup matches along with Leander Paes. He is the founder of the cash rich International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).

#9 Girisha Nagarajegowda

Disability in his left leg did not stop Girisha Nagarajegowda from excelling in high jump. His journey started at a State level sports meet where he won a medal competing with normal athletes. Girisha went on to win gold in the National high jump championship and clinched his first international medal with a third place finish at the Junior World Championships for the disabled in Ireland in 2006.

His best result was a silver medal winning effort at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London in the high jump F-42 category.

#10 Vikas Gowda

A discus thrower and a shot putter, Vikas Gowda is the national record holder in discus throw. Gowda has improved tremendously over the last few years with impressive performances.

After missing out on a finals berth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Gowda finished in eighth place in the London Games. He became the first Indian after Milkha Singh to bag a Commonwealth Games athletics gold. He achieved this feat in Glasgow with a throw of 63.64 m.

The 31-year old settled for silver in the Incheon Asian Games last year.

#11 B.S. Chandrasekhar

He was inflicted with polio when he was just six years old. His hand had recovered from the disease when he was 10 and he started playing cricket on the streets.

Chandrasekhar moved to Bangalore and was selected by the City Cricketers club. It was quite a transition from rubber ball to leather ball for the then young lad. He experimented with several bowling styles at the club including pace bowling before deciding to take up leg spin. It turned out be a wise move as Chandrasekhar made it to the national team within the next three months.

Chandrasekhar along with Bishen Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan ( the spin quartet )played a crucial role in India's first test series win against England in 1971. Chandrashekhar took 6 for 38 in the match at the Oval. He is also credited with India's first win against Australia in 1978 as he returned with impressive match figures of 12 for 104.

He was honored as Wisden cricketer of the year in 1972.