IPL 2021 – CSK Player now a bus driver: The Indian Premier League (IPL) has turned various cricketers into millionaires, but not former Sri Lanka off-spinner Suraj Randiv. Randiv played in IPL for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) under MS Dhoni for 2 years but is now working as a bus driver in Australia to earn his living.
CSK Player now a bus driver: Randiv played for MS Dhoni’s CSK in 2011 and 2013 and earned almost 75 Lakhs for his effort. Other than CSK, Randiv has played 12 Tests, 31 ODI’s and 7 T20’s for Sri Lanka including ICC World Cup in 2011.
But now he is working as a bus driver in Australia to meet his ends met. Randiv works for a French company Trensdev which employs and operates buses in Melbourne.
India vs Australia Series: Randiv was called to help Australian team during India tour
Randiv was recently called by Cricket Australia to help the Australian team during recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India a few months ago. Defying odds, India went on to win the Trophy 2-1. Randiv revealed that the National Team called him to prepare for the Melbourne Test.
Kept thinking about how this net bowler has the exact same action as former Sri Lankan office Suraj Randiv and turns out it’s Suraj Randiv himself #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/qIz6SrZ79Q
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) December 23, 2020
In a video uploaded by 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.”
Two other international cricketers driving buses in Melbourne
Randiv is not the lone international cricketer who is currently driving buses in Melbourne.
Besides him, there are two other international cricketers Waddington Mwayenga and Chinthaka Namaste who are working as bus drivers for Trensdev.
Mwayenga & Namaste, the duo had made their debut against India in 2009. While Chinthaka represented Zimbabwe in 5 T20Is, Mwayenga had featured in a Test match and three ODIs during 2005 and 2006.
The three players play for local cricket clubs but had to choose a different career path to earn their livelihood and work for the same French company that employs nearly 1200 divers from diverse professions.
All 3 play for Dandenong Cricket Club affiliated to Victoria Premier Cricket. The district-level cricketer also takes part in state competitions. James Pattinson, Sarah Elliot and Peter Siddle are other Australian players to have played for the same cricket club.
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