Ahmedabad: Shreyas Walekar represented Maharashtra in U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy and U-23 Col. CK Nayudu Trophy as a promising cricketer. On Saturday, he completed his ‘second innings’ as he graduated from MICA with a PGP degree and four medals for academic excellence in hand!“Several of my contemporaries are playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and in other different teams. But it was a decision I made two years ago to pivot and pursue management. I had already completed my BBA from Pune, and thought about career options. While I could have played a few more years as a cricketer, the degree is giving me an opening in the world of sports management,” Walekar told TOI.“IPL and other tournaments have created a new field for sports professionals like me who understand the other side of the game and can also speak ‘managese’ with number-crunching and PowerPoint presentations,” he adds. “I thus believe we will see more players pivoting towards management degrees.”He is not alone – his batchmate Adithya Raghuraman similarly represented Tamil Nadu in several big-ticket events before hanging his boots. “Sports management is a buzzword with so many activities taking place. I could have opted for a specialization, but I was guided by mentors that a general degree is more versatile,” he said. “It gives longevity to the players, too, who have dedicated their years to the game and only understand the game.”Prof Taral Pathak, head (admissions), at MICA said that it is indeed an unusual case where two national-level cricketers are part of the graduating class. “This class also has a chartered accountant, an architect, and a doctor among others, making it a truly unique batch composition. While we are coming up with a specialized sports management course soon, we have in the past hosted a few sportspersons, but they were always few and far between. We see a growing trend with sports now finally finding its place in the sun with multi-million-dollar brands in India,” he said.City-based premier management institutes had a brush with the sportspersons – Geet Sethi, one of the first ace international sportspersons from Gujarat – holds an MBA from the BK School of Management in the city. Experts at Nirma University and members of ACPC pointed at the state-level sportspersons making a cut in the past few years.At IIM Ahmedabad, over the years sports persons such as golfer, footballer, and chess player have made it to the list of students in both PGP and PGPX programmes, said sources.“Many sports persons later transition into commentary, team management, coaching, and activities such as umpiring and refereeing. A management degree gives them an entry into the world where corporates are pumping in money for mega sports events and franchises. In such a scenario, a sportsperson with an MBA would have a good opportunity,” said a city-based management consultant.
