BENGALURU: In the high-stakes world of sports where careers can be unpredictable and injuries can strike at any moment, having a solid educational background isn’t just a backup plan – it’s a game-changer.
This is precisely what former cricket captain and spin maestro Anil Kumble realised long ago: He knew he could go back to being a mechanical engineer if his cricket career didn’t pan out in the desired direction.
“One good thing for me as a fallback was that I was an engineer. So, if anything went wrong, I knew I could apply and at least get a 9-to-5 job,” Kumble said Monday.
He feels education plays a pivotal role in shaping a sportsperson’s success.
“Education is an important aspect to being a successful sportsperson. In my case, on the field, in terms of pressure and handling other external forces that enable you to go there and play, it was all handled with the educational support I had. It helps you perform better on the field because you feel a lot more secure. You don’t worry about what happens if you get injured or dropped from the team,” he said during the signing of an MoU between his company Tenvic and Manipal Academy of Higher Learning (MAHE) for educational and infrastructural initiatives.
Weighing in on the ongoing debate on sport being for only those who can afford it, Kumble said, “I think it’s a fair scale. You need a lot of resources. In cricket, a bat or the kit costs a lot of money. That said, it’s the responsibility of an athlete. They have to say, how can I now have a cushion or a fallback mechanism in case something goes wrong in my sport? It’s quite a challenge for everything to align.”