Former Chennai Super Kings and Sri Lankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv is now a bus driver in Australia.
Indian Premier League has made some of the unknown players a star. Many domestic players have got the chance to prosper in the national team. But the fate was not with the Sri Lankan.
Suraj Randiv played for CSK under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy in 2011 and 2013 and earned almost 75 Lakhs for his effort. Suraj has also represented Sri Lanka in 12 Tests, 31 ODI’s and 7 T20’s. He was also the part of Sri Lankan team in the 2011 ICC World Cup who was beaten in the final by India.
But at present, he works as a bus driver in Australia for a French company Trensdev which employs and operates buses in Melbourne.
Randiv was recently called as a net bowler to help the Australian team during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India a few months ago.
In an interview with 9 News, Randiv said, “I was asked by CA to come and bowl against their bowlers, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.”
However, Suraj Randiv is not the only player who is driving buses now in Australia. Besides him, there are two other international cricketers as well. Former Zimbabwe internationals Waddington Mwayenga and Chinthaka Namaste are also working as bus drivers for Trensdev.
Waddington Mwayenga and Chinthaka Namaste both made their debut against India in 2009. Chinthaka represented Zimbabwe in 5 T20Is, and Mwayenga had featured in a Test match and three ODIs.
These three players play for local cricket clubs but had to choose a different career path to earn their livelihood. It is very unfortunate to see the players like them in this scenario.
