Every aspiring cricketer dreams of playing for their country at least once in life. In a country like India, where every kid next door wants to become a Sachin Tendulkar or a Virat Kohli or a Jasprit Bumrah, it becomes extremely tough for a player to make it to the national team. Now imagine playing for your country and also clearing one of the toughest, if not the toughest, exams in India, the UPSC. This is nigh impossible, right? But there is one cricketer who has also cleared UPSC Exam and is an IAS officer and he is, Amay Khurasiya.
Amay Khurasiya has a rare distinction of clearing the Civil Services Examination before making his debut for India in 1999 against Sri Lanka. He is an Inspector in the Indian Customs & Central Excise Department (as of February 22, 2025), and played 12 ODIs for India too in his short international career.
Khurasiya made it to the national team after scoring a lot of runs. He made his name then as a flamboyant left-handed batter who could score briskly. He began his career in some style too, scoring a quickfire half-century against Sri Lanka on debut. However, the talented cricketer found the going tough after that at the international level. He made it to the World Cup squad in 1999 as well, but didn't get to play a single match.
He last played for India in July 2001, also against Sri Lanka, before being dropped and was never considered again. Eventually, he decided to retire in April 2007 while also stating that he would continue to contribute to the sport through coaching. Amay Khurasiya was a heavy run-scorer in domestic cricket, playing for Madhya Pradesh. He amassed 7304 runs in 119 matches at an average of 40.8 with 21 centuries and 31 fifties to his name.
He played 112 List A matches as well, scoring 3768 runs at an average of 38.06 with four tons and 26 fifties. However, at the international level, he could only muster 149 runs at an average of 13.54 with only one fifty, that came on his debut. While retiring from the sport, he regretted not getting an extended run with the national team when he was at his peak.
Despite such a disappointing end to his playing career, Amay Khurasiya, having won the battle with the UPSC exam, didn't give up and is currently the head coach of the Kerala cricket team. After being appointed at the helm last year in October, Kerala did extremely well, making it to the final of the Ranji Trophy for the first time in history. Even though they couldn't win the title, their performance was lauded throughout and under Amay Khurasiya's watchful eyes, the team seems to be heading in the right direction.