Cricketers have a career of short-span; even if you are a world-class player, you are not allowed to play for more than 10-15 years your body may not allow you to compete with the younger players. It is a completely different story for exceptional cricketers such as 'The Master Blaster' Sachin Tendulkar, who started his career at the age of 15-16 and went on to play for India for 24-25 years. But that is not the case for the rest of the players. Most of the players end their career in their mid-30s, so they have a good post-retirement plan. Some retired Cricket icons, however, find a way to stay connected with the ground, and hence, they become commentators or, as some of the experienced players of their era, start coaching the youngsters as bowling, batting, or fielding coaches. However, some of the players totally switch their path to a new horizon. Today, you will read about the ones who shifted their career from cricket to an absolutely new profession after their retirement.
1. Chris Harris
On top of the list is the folk hero of the New Zealand cricket team, Chris Harris. Born on 20 November 1969, Chris Harris is the third-highest wicket-taker for New Zealand in One-Day Internationals (ODIs). The great Kiwi cricketer played a total of 250 ODIs and 23 Test matches throughout his career. Starting his cricket career in 1990, the icon played till 2004 and set many highest wicket-taking records throughout his career. No one would have predicted that would change careers to a whole new trajectory to become a medical representative after his retirement. Now the legendary Kiwi cricketer works as a medical representative, selling medical equipment to orthopedic neurosurgeons.
2. Sir Curtly Ambrose
Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, West Indies icon Sir Curtly Ambrose took 405 Test Cricket wickets during his career. The 6 feet 7-inch-tall man played 98 tests and 176 ODIs and throughout his career and set new records and later entered into the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame. He was selected as one of West Indies' all-time XI by a panel of experts. Music had always been one of Ambrose's passions and therefore, he decided to join a music band after he retired from cricket. At present, he is involved with the band Spirited as the bassist. He had previously been a part of the band "The Big Bad Dread and the Bald Head". Fascinating right?
3. Gautam Gambhir
Third on the list is the great Indian left-handed batsman Gautam Gambhir aka 'Gauti. Having started his career on 11th April 2003 with the match against Bangladesh, this young man scored 5238 ODI runs throughout his career. In 2007, he was named in the World T20I XI by Cricinfo for his performance. His 2011 World Cup final performance is remembered by the Indian fans to date. He also played for the KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) team in IPL but his performance was not up to the mark during this time. In December 2018, he announced his retirement from the game and joined Politics. Currently, he is serving as the Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha from BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party).
4. Chris Lewis
Next on the list is Christopher Lewis, the former English icon who is 6 feet 2 inches tall, right-arm medium-fast bowler. He played his debut match in 1990 against West Indies. He was regarded as a colourful player of the game, who never quite lived up to his early potential. In his short time of career, he took 93 Test match wickets and was considered an aggressive low order batter. However, no one would have expected Chris to be convicted of Cocaine smuggling. On 8 December 2008, Lewis was arrested at Gatwick Airport on suspicion of smuggling 3.37 kgs of liquid cocaine, with a street value of about £140,000, into the United Kingdom on a flight from Saint Lucia. After a trial at Croydon Crown Court, on 20 May 2009, Lewis and basketball player Chad Kirnon were found guilty and sentenced to 13 years in prison. After coming out from jail he wrote a book and shared his nightmares with his fans.
5. Navjot Singh Sidhu
Next on the list is the 'Sher of Punjab' or the former Punjabi Indian Cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu. During his cricket career, Sidhu scored over 4413 ODI runs and played over 136 ODI matches. The top-order batter started his career for the Indian Cricket team in 1981-1982 and was known for his ability to hit sixes and earned the title of 'Sixer Sidhu'. After he retired from cricket in 1998, he was seen in many Indian reality shows. After that, he joined politics, and currently, he is the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee after leaving BJP.
6. Salil Ankola
Salil Ankola, the former Indian cricketer, made his debut in the match against Pakistan in 1989. The right-arm fast bowler served the cricket team only for 20 ODIs and 1 Test match taking 13 and 2 wickets respectively. After retirement, he tried his career in the film industry and made his cinematic debut through the Hindi film 'Kurukshetra'. Later he acted in a bunch of other Hindi films and devoted himself to his career in acting. However, he had some issues with his wife, and later she took her own life.
7. Arshad Khan
The 6 feet 4 inches tall Pakistani right-handed batter started his match in a test. From playing his first match against West Indies, this young Pakistani Arshad represented Pakistan in 58 ODIs and 9 Test matches. However, his cricket career did not end up well and he had to retire from cricket very early. Later it came up in the news that he had to support his family by driving a taxi in Sydney.
8. Nathan Astle
Former New Zealand's right-handed opener batter Nathan Astle's career spanned almost 12 years and during which he played 223 ODIs and 81 Tests accumulating 7090 and 4700 run setting two records of scoring the fastest double century in Test Cricket and second-highest individual score on his name. However, he was also a football player and used to represent the Rangers A.F.C team. After retiring from cricket, he joined as an auto racer and achieved the third position in South Island Sprint Car Championship in 2010. He always claimed that he wanted to be an auto racer from his childhood and later he achieved his dream.
9. Imran Khan
The all-rounder Pakistani batter started his early cricket career at age 18 in the 1971 Test series against England. During his captaincy, Pakistan won their first and only World Cup trophy and he became the icon of Pakistan. He played 175 ODIs scoring 3709 runs and took 362 wickets throughout his career. After retiring from cricket, he launched a fundraising campaign to set up a Cancer hospital in memory of his mother. Later in 1996, he founded a political party named Tehreek-e-Insaf. On 18 August 2018, Imran Khan was elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
10. Andrew Flintoff
Last but not the least, the famous England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff. He may be at the bottom of this list but his cricket career was on the top of every list when he used to play. He started his career in 1998 by debuting in a Test against South Africa. He scored a total of 3394 runs in his ODI career and 3845 Test runs. He also took 226 Test match wickets. After a successful career in cricket, he got involved in various types of other games and one of them was professional boxing where he fought against Ricard Dawson and beat him. Later he tried his fortune by designing his fashion range and becoming the face of the brand Jacamo. He became the face icon and influencer for many youngsters out there.
So, here is the 10 Cricketers list who opted for a new career after their retirement. Hope you enjoyed reading.
