While cricketers are expected to perform well on the field and make their country proud by winning tournaments like the World Cup, there lies a certain set of additional prerequisites if that cricketer is Indian.

Doing well in school academically and earning a respectable score in your 10th and 12th class board exams are few of those requisites. Two of the greatest members of the Men in Blue in the modern era of Indian cricket, namely Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli, however did NOT meet those expectations.

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Back in 2017, in an interview with The Print , Dhoni had spoken about how much he loved maths during his days as a young student and even though the subject started going over his head with the introduction of algebra after class VI, he still chose math as his favourite subject. 

I was very good at Maths till class V, and after that, algebra and everything came in, and I started playing cricket, so it became slightly tough. So, if I have to pick something, I would say I like Maths, the reason being I was good at it, and even after class VI, though I was quite bad, I loved geometry,â said Dhoni.

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A year later, on visiting former Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwagâs school near Delhi, Dhoni even revealed how much he scored in the two examinations that mattered the most in a school-studentâs life, class 10th and 12th boards. He disclosed that he was able to secure 66% and 56% in 10th and 12th respectively. 

Current Indian skipper, Virat Kohli too wasnât too big on leaving an impact on the world with his academic achievements. Unlike Dhoni, it was maths that kept Kohli up at night.

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"So in math we used to have exams and the maximum marks we could get in 100, right. I used to get 3, I was that good. I did not understand why someone would even want to learn math," Kohli said in a sports web-show, In Depth with Graham Bensinger. 

"I could not understand the complications behind it, I have never used those formulas in life.

"I just wanted to get through my 10th Grade exam, because they used to happen at a state level and after that you could choose if you wanted to continue with math or not. I'm telling you, I have never worked that hard in cricket the way I did to pass in that exam," Kohli added.

While the cricketers admit of not being such great students inside the classroom, iit must be taken into account that the majority of their time at school went on the field, practicing and working the thing that actually mattered for the career they wanted to pursue - getting better at cricket. 

Forbes highest-paid athletes 2020

1. Roger Federer
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Lionel Messi
4. Neymar
5. LeBron James
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66. Virat Kohli (Highest paid cricketer)#ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/Jh00O1VrFH

It is therefore understandable how despite Kohli scoring 3/100 is the highest earning cricketer in the world. Maths simply does not matter for the Delhi-born, well other than to count the number of zeros in his pay-cheque.

Also Read: 6 Indian Cricketers Who Didnât Finish Their Studies

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