Zafar Ansari is a rare breed. The 24-year-old Surrey all-rounder, who is playing for England against India in the first Test at Rajkot—only his second Test—is being hailed as England's “smartest-ever cricketer”. And it has nothing to do with his exploits on the field.
With a double-first in politics and sociology from Cambridge University, Ansari is, arguably, one of the most educated cricketers around. Sample his 40,000-word dissertation—‘The origins of African-American armed self-defence and its relationship with the Black Power movement in the 1960s'—and you know what we are dealing with! Also, he is a talented pianist.
When he made his Test debut against Bangladesh last month, he became the first Cambridge alumni to play for England in 13 years—the last one being Ed Smith. While India will be more worried about his slow left-arm spin than his college degrees, here's a look at some other highly educated cricketers:
Mike Brearley
The former England wicketkeeper was an astute skipper. He played 39 Tests, of which he captained the side in 31, winning 18. Academically, too, he is an inspiration—he did his under-graduation and graduation at Cambridge, and is a qualified psychotherapist and psychoanalyst. He was the president of the British Psychoanalytical Society from 2008 to 2010. His book on captaincy—Art of Captaincy—is considered to be one of the best on the subject.
Imran Khan
One of greatest players Pakistan has ever produced, Imran completed his schooling from Aitchison College, Lahore, and went to Royal Grammar School Worcester, England, to pursue higher studies. Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning captain graduated in philosophy, politics and economics from Keble College, University of Oxford. He served as the chancellor of Bradford University between 2005 and 2014.
Aavishkar Salvi
He was tipped to be India's Glenn McGrath for his action and accuracy. He progressed by leaps and bounds, too, from being a back up bowler to getting into the Mumbai Ranji team, and India A and Indian ODI team, before injuries curtailed his promising career. But, his fame was more for his academic qualifications rather than his skills on the cricket ground—Salvi holds a post-doctoral degree in Astrophysics.
Murali Vijay
The batsman from Tamil Nadu is a regular opener in the Indian Test side now. Nicknamed 'monk' for being calm and composed, Vijay failed the class 12 exams after which he took a 'sabbatical' from studies. He resumed his studies later and joined Vivekananda College in Chennai (Madras University). He graduated in economics and did masters in philosophy. He, reportedly, did MBA from SRM University.
Flamboyant left-handed batsman Amay Khurasiya is believed to have cleared the highly-competitive Indian Administrative Services exam before he earned the Indian cap.
