Cricket facts: 5 Indian Famous Cricketers who played other sports

Most of the time, athletes tend to play multiple sports even though they excel at international level in a certain sport. When fans fight among themselves regarding cricket and other sports, there are names in the sports circle, who have excelled in other sports too. Here is an interesting cricket facts while naming the top 5 cricketers who played different sports at national and international levels.

Kapil Dev | Golf

Kapil Dev led the underdog Indian Men's cricket team to win its first World Cup title in 1983, defeating the two-time champion, the mighty West Indies.

He not only took the catch of Vivian Richards on the final day but also scored a record 175* runs against Zimbabwe, keeping hopes for the semi-finals.

He played 131 Tests and 225 ODIs since his debut in late 1978. He has got 5,248 runs and 434 wickets in tests. The Padma Sri awardee(1982)  has  3,783 runs and 253 wickets in ODIs. In 2002, he was nominated as the Indian Cricketer of the Century.

After retiring from cricket, Kapil Dev took up golf and quickly made a name for himself in the sport. In 2000, Kapil Dev won the Pro-Am event at the European Tour's Indian Open.  In 2001 and 2002, he won the Singapore Open Pro-Am title and the Malaysian Open Pro-Am title respectively. He then won the Thailand Open Pro-Am title in 2004.

He reached a handicap of 0, making him one of India's top amateur golfers. He had participated in several European Tour events, as well as those in Asian Tour events. He was a regular golfer in the Indian Golf Tour events.

Ajit Agarkar | Golf

Like Kapil Dev, Ajit Agarkar too delved into golf post-retirement. Ajit Agarkar seriously took his love for Golf. He won the India Finals of the BMR World Corporate Golf Challenge held at Prestige Golfshire, Bengaluru. 

Agarkar participated in various Indian Golf Union (IGU) tournaments and represented India in international amateur events.

He turned into a professional in 2015 while competing in Indian and Asian tours. He played in the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and Asian Tour events.

Agarkar won the 2016 BILT Open golf tournament (PGTI). In the following year (2017), finished runner-up in the Pune Open (PGTI). He also represented India in the 2016 Asian Golf Championship.

Debuted in 1998, he has 1269 runs in ODI cricket, and 15 and 571 runs in T20I and Test cricket respectively. The fast bowler is the third-highest wicket-taker for India in the ODIs (288 wickets). He has taken 58 wickets in 26 Test matches he played.

Yuzvendra Chahal | Chess

The Indian spin bowler was once a chess prodigy. He learned Chess at the age of 7. He featured in the World Youth Chess Championship, representing India.

He even participated in age-group chess competitions like Under-12 and Under-16 national chess championships and was a national champion there.

Chahal held an Elo rating of 1946, indicating a skilled player. However, Chahal discontinued his run with chess due to the lack of sponsorships.

At 18 Chahal shifted focus to cricket, eventually becoming a successful leg-spinner for India. The leggie has played 75  ODI matches and has taken 111 wickets at 27.48 on average since 2016. 

He played 69 matches and bagged 91 wickets at an average of 20.41

IN 2011, he debuted in the Indian Premier League for Mumbai Indians where he played till 2013. Later he shifted to Royal Challengers Bangalore and then to Rajasthan Royals where is presently playing. He played 164 matches, taking 187 wickets.

Cota Ramaswami | Tennis

Cota Ramaswami was a remarkable Indian sportsman who represented India in both cricket and tennis. A Chennai-based cricketer played two test matches for British India. He played against England itself scoring 170 runs at an impressive average of 56.67.

However, he was part of India's Davis Cup team in 1922, partnering with Dr. A. H. Fyzee and A. A. Fayzee. He even took part in the Sussex Championships and had a notable win against the Spanish pair of Comte de Gomar and Flaquer.

MJ Gopalan | Hockey

Hailing from Madras Gopalan participated in both cricket and hockey in full form. He played in those days when both sports valued art. 

He played just one international test, but 78 First-Class matches, scoring 2,916 runs at 24.92 including a hundred. He also took 194 wickets at 24.20 with 9 five-fors and 3 ten-fors. Also, he took 49 catches in his 26 years of cricketing life.

The medium-fast bowler played at the center-back position in hockey. in 1936, he got calls for both the 1936 Olympics hockey squad as well as India tour in England.

Gopalan, here made a blunder. When he had the chance to be an Olympic Gold medallist, he chose cricket. India won its first gold medal at the Olympics, in Berlin. India won all 5 matches, scored 38 goals, and conceded just one.

However, Gopalan was benched and never got a chance to don the Indian test jersey.