Assignment 2

Top 10 Personalities of Your State

S Shankar Narayanan

15BEC1031

Pichai Sundararajan

better known as Sundar Pichai, is an Indian American business executive. is currently the
CEO of Google INC.

Karun Chandhok

Chennai-born Karun Chandhok is one of only two people from India to have ever made it to Formula
One. He competed for the Hispania Racing Team in 2010, and prior to that, he was a successful racer in
the GP2 series. Post-retirement, Chandhok went on to become a well-known F1 commentator for Sky
Sports and has also worked for BBC Radio 5.

Karun_Chandhok

Former Indian Formula One racer Karun Chandhok at the Malaysian GP

Ravichandran Ashwin

The present Indian cricket team’s leading wicket-taker and one of India’s best-known all-rounders,
Ravichandran Ashwin was born in Chennai and started his career playing for Tamil Nadu in 2006. Ashwin
has also played for the IPL teams Rising Pune Supergiants and Chennai Super Kings, and he is also the
only Indian bowler to have won the ICC Cricketer of the Year Award.

Nasser Hussain

Not many people know that the famous English cricketer Nasser Hussain was actually born in Chennai
and spent his early years imbibing the city’s love for the sport. A veteran of nearly 100 test matches and
88 ODIs, Nasser was also one of the most successful captains of the English cricket team and captained
the side for more than four years (1999–2003). After retirement, Nasser also went on to become one of
the country’s most popular sports commentators and worked for Sky Sports alongside other legends
such as Ian Botham and David Lloyd.

Dipika Pallikal
One of India’s most successful squash players, Dipika Pallikal was the first Indian to break into the top 10
of the PSA Women’s Rankings. She garnered national attention in 2011 when she picked up three WISPA
tour titles and achieved a world ranking of 13. In addition, Dipika famously fought for gender pay
equality and boycotted the National Squash Championship for three years since the prize money for
women was only 40% of the men’s prize.

Indian Squash Champion Dipika Pallikal at an international tournament in New York | © Julesgriff /
WikiCommons

Viswanathan Anand

Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand is regarded as one of the all-time greatest players of the game of
chess. Born in Chennai in 1969, Anand became India’s first chess Grandmaster in the year 1988. Anand
was the world champion from 2000–02 and again from 2007–13 and is the recipient of several national
honors, including the Padma Vibushan and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. As of October, Anand is
ranked ninth in the FIDE world rankings.

Indian Grandmaster and former World Champion Viswanathan Anand playing a professional match | ©
MarcoB / WikiCommons

Vijay Amritraj

One of the first Indians to make a mark in international tennis, Vijay Amritraj played pro tennis from
1970–93. He was also a part of the famous Amritraj brothers trio, all of whom were international tennis
players. Amritraj boasts a stupendous career record of 390–302 and has to his name a total of 18 career
titles. He also reached a career-best ranking of 16.

Murali Vijay

Indian Test cricket team’s mainstay opener Murali Vijay began his career playing for Tamil Nadu as a first-
class cricketer. He got his first India cap in 2008 and even briefly played for the national ODI team. In
recent years, Vijay has become one of India’s most successful test cricketers, knocking 10 centuries and
over 15 fifties at an average of 40.64.

Indian Test cricket team opener Murali Vijay getting ready for practice | © Naparazzi / WikiCommons

Sharath Kamal Achanta

Sharath Kamal Achanta is one of India’s best-known and senior-most table tennis players and is credited
with helping to popularize the sport. Achanta began his career in Chennai and came to prominence after
he won the men’s gold medal at the 16th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship in 2004. He has a
current world ranking of 45 and boasts a peak ranking of 32.

Thangavelu Mariyappan

Chennai’s Thangavelu Mariyappan became an overnight national sensation last year when he won a gold
medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Mariyappan logged his best effort of 1.89 meters in the high jump
event, which got him India’s first gold medal at the games. Mariyappan, who lost his right lower limb in
an accident when he was five, has become something of an inspirational icon in sports since his win and
has also been the recipient of several awards, including the Padma Shri.