How IPL transformed Nilesh Kulkarni, an Indian cricketer into an award-winning sports management pioneer

When one does a google search for Nilesh Kulkarni, it shows up the stat that he was the first Indian bowler to take a wicket with his very first ball in Test cricket. In 1997, during the Test match at the R Premadasa stadium, Kulkarni dismissed Marvan Atapattu with his first ball but that match is remembered for Sri Lanka’s mammoth 952/6 declared. Kulkarni played a couple of ODIs and Tests but was a stalwart in Mumbai’s domestic circles, taking over 300 wickets. However, when Kulkarni was about to announce his retirement from cricket, a major incident happened which changed his career completely. From a cricketer, he became a sports educationist. The reason - The arrival of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008.

Speaking exclusively to DNA, Kulkarni said the entire move was by accident and never in his wildest dreams did he ever think about such a thing as sports education. “I did not get an IPL contract. I was retiring from first class cricket. Me and my wife were discussing a couple of things. Lalit Modi, who was the commissioner of the IPL at that time, awarded a contract to a UK based company to manage the IPL. The UK company decided to hire 100-150 professionals from all over the world who were brought into India to manage the IPL. Out of a population of 1.2 billion, if you cannot find 200 professionals to manage an event like the IPL, this was the gap that we decided to explore. There was no concept of sports education in India. That was the trigger to start IISM (International Institute of Sports Management,” Kulkarni revealed.

Armed with this vision, Kulkarni decided to launch IISM in 2010. The institute offered a pool of opportunities in managing athletes, curating venues, managing and creating sporting properties, creating wealth and marketing of events or developing businesses. IISM has also been recognised as the University of Mumbai’s sports management degree course. The 10-year effort finally resulted in glory in August 2020 when the President of India honoured Kulkarni and IISM with the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar for the work in sports management in India.

“It is a responsibility now. When the President of India recognises your efforts, it now becomes more of a responsibility. Till then, you are always under the radar of doing your own work. But now, everything is looked at differently,” Kulkarni said.

Academics and sports – Not the first Mumbaikar

Kulkarni is actually not the first Mumbai cricketer to get into the field of education after being a cricketer. There was one person who was a professor in his entire life but who also became one of the most able administrators of the BCCI during his tenure. Professor Ratnakar Shetty has managed to balance both brilliantly and Kulkarni brought him on board as one of the advisors for IISM. Kulkarni said his influence has been immense and his advise has stuck to him until this day.

“For me, it is a very unique combination that Professor Shetty has. He has been a professor all his life and he was one of the most sought after cricket administrators in the BCCI. When I met him, the first thing he said was ‘Education is a serious business. You have to give more than 100 percent. Every student’s future is in your hands. Make sure you do justice and honour the commitment they have towards you and your commitment towards them,” Kulkarni said.

Players will get impacted by biobubble

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, sports is now been played in a biobubble where players will have to live in isolation for extended periods of time and limit socialising to a bare minimum. The restrictions of the bio-bubble are believed to be the key reasons why Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina decided to leave the Chennai Super Kings team in IPL 2020. Kulkarni believes that bio-bubbles will have an impact mentally.

“They (players) are experiencing it. You are playing at a young age. The beauty of sport is you retire at the age of 35. Your peak is between 25 and 32 as a player. That is very young for you. Maturity level for players begins very early. This pandemic is a different challenge altogether. You do not have any reference point. The stronger minded people will overcome. It is those who are young and outgoing that will face an adaptability challenge,” Kulkarni said.

When asked as to how the coronavirus pandemic will pose challenges for IISM, Kulkarni said being prepared beforehand is very important. “Play by the time. For the first semester, we have prepared the entire delivery online. We do not want to risk students’ safety. We are also prepared for the second semester. To compensate for their lack of practical exposure due to the pandemic, we are giving them more of research work. There are close to 80 knowledge papers which are in the pipeline in the next couple of months. This particular aspect, analysing and assessing primary data, no plagiarism is part of their learning which can be enhanced 360 degrees,” Kulkarni said.