He also played cricket at School, led Anwar ul Uloom college for four years and played for Deccan Blues in the HCA league.
[2] He quit after being sidelined by his cricket coach and pursued badminton.
S. M. Arif, during his college days, won the inter-varsity badminton championship by representing University of Hyderabad.
He earned a diploma in badminton coaching from National Institute of Sports at Patiala.
[3] Arif coached several Indian badminton players, including the former All England Badminton Champion Pullela Gopichand,[4] the former Indian National Badminton champions P. V. V. Lakshmi, Jwala Gutta, and Saina Nehwal.