Archive · 28 Dec 2025
Nilesh Kulkarni: From Cricket to Education Empire
Nilesh Kulkarni is a former Indian cricketer who made history by taking a wicket on his very first ball in Test cricket.
However, his international cricket career was short-lived.
After retiring, he noticed that India's growing sports industry lacked trained professionals to manage it.
So, he started the International Institute of Sports Management (IISM) in 2010.
IISM teaches students how to manage sports businesses, and it has become very successful.
Kulkarni's work has been recognized by the President of India, and he continues to inspire his students to be hungry for success, just like he was during his cricket days.
Nilesh Kulkarni took a wicket on his first ball in Test cricket in 1997 but had a brief international career.
He founded the International Institute of Sports Management (IISM) in 2010 to address the lack of sports management education in India.
IISM offers degrees in sports management and has partnerships with international sports organizations.
Kulkarni's companies generated 18.9 crore rupees in revenue in the 2024 fiscal year.
He received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar in 2020 for his contributions to sports education.
- Who
- Nilesh Kulkarni, former Indian cricketer and founder of IISM
- What
- Built a multi-crore sports education empire after a brief cricket career
- When
- Founded IISM in 2010, after retiring from cricket
- Where
- Mumbai, India, with operations expanding to Chhattisgarh
- Why
- Identified a gap in sports management education and filled it with Indianized content
- First Ball Wicket
- Marvan Atapattu in 1997
- Test Matches Played
- 3
- First-Class Wickets
- 357
- First-Class Average
- 24.89
- IISM Founded
- 2010
- IISM Revenue (2024)
- 18.9 crore rupees
- National Award
- Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar (2020)