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It's 15th September 2020, a day that is celebrated as National Engineer's Day in India. It is a general belief that engineers have some of the most creative minds globally, and India is home to many such talented engineers.
However, at times an engineering student does develop an interest in another profession and uses his creative side to try and master that field as well.
Cricket requires a fusion of physical and mental strength. The players need to have the stamina to play for hours on the field while trying to figure out ways to outsmart their opponents.
Several players have represented the Indian cricket team at the world stage. While most cricketers completely focus on the game from a very early age, some individuals do manage to pursue higher studies while maintaining ambitions in cricket.
Here are six such players that have gone on to represent the Indian cricket team following the completion of their engineering degree.
6. Anil Kumble - Indian cricket's most successful wicket taker
One of the most successful spin bowlers in international cricket history, Anil Kumble, holds a BE degree in Mechanical Engineering. The leg-spin bowler graduated from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering, Bangalore, in 1991-92. It is noteworthy that Kumble had played his first Test and ODI in 1990.
Kumble gave up on his engineering ambitions and went on to have a stellar cricket career which saw him achieve rare feats, one of which was when he became the first Indian and just the second bowler ever to scalp all ten wickets in a Test match innings.
Kumble ended his career with 619 Test wickets and remains the third-highest wicket taker of all-time, only behind Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. He has also captained the Indian cricket team in Tests and presently serves as the coach of Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.
5. Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin was a part of the Indian cricket team that won the ICC World Cup in 2011. The Tamil Nadu-based player is known for his quick thinking on the field, but may have never represented India had he continued working as an IT professional.
After graduating with a B.Tech degree in Information Technology from SSN College of Engineering, Chennai, Ashwin joined a software company. However, the former Kings XI Punjab captain quit that field and became one of the top off-spinners in cricket history.
4. Javagal Srinath
Javagal Srinath led India's fast bowling attack in the '90s and was regarded as one of the premier fast bowlers of his era, as evidenced by his tally of 315 wickets in 229 ODI matches.
Many present-day bowlers have hailed Srinath as their inspiration to take up fast bowling.
However, none of that would have been possible had he decided to work as an engineer after graduating with a BE degree in Instrumentation Technology from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysuru.
3. EAS Prasanna
Erapalli Prasanna played for the Indian cricket team from 1962 to 1978. He represented the nation in 49 Test matches, picking up 189 wickets.
The right-arm off-break bowler bowled 602 maiden overs in his Test career and troubled a whole lot of batsmen with his spin bowling. Prasanna holds an engineering degree to his name from the National Institute of Engineering, Mysuru.
2. Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan
S Venkataraghavan is the third off-spin bowler to feature on this list. The now 75-year-old played 72 international matches for the Indian cricket team and picked up 161 wickets.
An engineering graduate from the College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai, Venkataraghavan also became a member of ICC's elite umpires panel following his retirement.
Although he achieved a lot in his career, certain fans feel he was born in the wrong era as the Indian cricket team already had three front-line spinners apart from Venkataraghavan at the time.
1. Krishnamachari Srikkanth, member of 1983 World Cup winning Indian cricket team
One of India's finest opening batsmen, Krishnamachari Srikkanth studied electrical engineering and graduated from the College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai before becoming a full-time cricketer.
Srikkanth played 145 ODI innings for India and opened in all of them. He scored over 4,000 ODI runs at an average of 29.01, including four centuries and 27 fifties.
He also played 43 Test matches during his 11-year-long playing career and scored 2,062 runs, which included a couple of hundreds.
His most significant achievement was emerging as the top-scorer in India's historic 1983 World Cup final victory over the West Indies. Opening the innings with Sunil Gavaskar, Srikkanth scored 38 runs off 57 deliveries and helped India post 183 runs on the board.
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