10 cricketers who chose an alternate career path after retirement

The average career span of a cricketer's career is around 8 to 10 years. This essentially means that the players will have to begin planning their post-retirement careers beforehand. Luckily enough, retired cricketers have a lot of options through which they can stay connected to the sport even after hanging up their boots. Cricket administration, coaching, commentary are the various career options most of the cricketers resort to after retirement.

Having said that, there are some cricketers who do away with cricket and choose a completely different career path. These players were reasonably successful for their respective teams but they parted ways with cricket after calling it a day. Here are 10 players who chose an alternate career path post-retirement.

#10 Salil Ankola

Salil Ankola with Sachin Tendulkar

Salil Ankola was one of the most promising fast bowlers when he broke into the Indian ODI side in 1989. Incidentally, Ankola made his debut along with his Mumbai teammate Sachin Tendulkar.

Unfortunately, Ankola's career never took off as he played just a solitary Test and 20 ODIs. Ankola was in and out of the side and never really cemented a place in the Indian team. He then decided to shift his focus towards acting and made his Bollywood debut in 2000. Even though Ankola has acted in just 7 movies so far, he has acted in several television shows and has been quite successful.

#9 Chris Harris

Chris Harris

Chris Harris is the perfect example of the 'bits and pieces' player. Harris played 250 ODIs for New Zealand in which he scored over 4000 runs at an average of 29. He also took 203 ODI wickets with his medium-pace. Harris played 23 Test matches as well and was an excellent servant for New Zealand.

Post-retirement, Harris sells orthopaedic devices, like pedicle screws, cages, artificial knees and hips and lots of spinal equipment to orthopaedic surgeons or to hospitals. According to Harris, he loves his new job.

Also see – Dream 11 predictions

#8 Nathan Astle

Nathan Astle

Nathan Astle was an integral part of the New Zealand side in the late 90s and early 2000s across all formats. Astle played 81 Tests and 223 ODIs during this period before calling it quits in 2007.

Astle, who has also played football for Rangers A.F.C in Christchurch, tried his hand at auto racing after retirement and was quite successful at it, too. In 2010, Astle finished third in the South Island Sprint Car Championship. He claimed that he always had an interest in auto racing but could not do it because of his cricket career.

#7 Henry Olonga

Henry Olonga

Indian fans will never forget Henry Olonga who denied India a much-needed win in a group game in the 1999 World Cup. Unfortunately, Olonga's career did not really blossom as he ended up playing just 30 Tests and 50 ODIs for Zimbabwe.

After an early retirement from the game in 2003, Olonga released an album called Aurelia in 2006. The former Zimbabwe speedster impressed the judges with his singing in an Australian reality show. Olonga has revealed that he wants to pursue singing now.

#6 Bryan Strang

Bryan Strang

Another Zimbabwe cricketer who changed his profession after retirement is Bryan Strang. Strang was known for his accurate line and lengths and was a regular in the side in the late 90s. However, Strang moved out of Zimbabwe due to political unrest in 2002. He was also vocal about the deteriorating health of Zimbabwe cricket.

Strang was banned by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union in 2005. At a time when he was going through depression, yoga came to Strang's rescue. The former Zimbabwe bowler believes that yoga has changed the way he looks at life and he is now at peace with his life. Strang preaches yoga in Zimbabwe and around the world.

#5 Brett Schultz

Brett Schultz

37 wickets in 9 Tests is the testimony of the bowling prowess of Brett Schultz. Schultz was once seen as the next big thing in world cricket but unfortunately, his career was marred by injuries and he played just 9 Tests and a single ODI for South Africa.

After retiring from cricket earlier he expected, Schultz tried his hands at different businesses. Schultz is currently the insurance director of Econorisk.

#4 Navjot Singh Sidhu

Navjot Singh Sidhu

Navjot Singh Sidhu was a nemesis to the opposition bowlers, especially the spinners, in his playing days. Sidhu played 51 Tests and 136 ODIs for India and many felt that he could have achieved much more.

Sidhu might have had fallen short of expectations in his cricket career but his post-cricket career was quite a hit. Be it his famous one-liners as a cricket commentator or his laugh riot as a comedy show judge, Sidhu was in demand after retirement. He turned politician in 2004 when he contested the Lok Shabha election for BJP. Sidhu is currently an active member of the Indian national congress.

#3 Curtly Ambrose

Curtly Ambrose

After making opposition batsmen dance on his bowling tunes, the great Curtly Ambrose is tuning his guitar after retirement. After annihilating batting line-ups for years and over 400 Test wickets to his name, the West Indies legend took a liking to music.

Ambrose played the guitar in a band named Big Bad Dread and the Baldhead. There have been several videos of him playing the guitar on the internet. Recently, he has shown his skills as a dancer too.

#2 Imran Khan

Imran Khan

One of the greatest all-rounders the game has ever seen, Imran Khan is the man in charge of the 5th most populated country in the world. Imran led Pakistan to their maiden and only World title in 1992.

After serving his country on the cricket front for more than 20 years, Imran entered politics. After being on the fringes for years, Imran's moment of glory finally arrived in 2018 when he was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

#1 Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff was one of the most passionate cricketers around during his playing days. And that is perhaps the reason why he chose to become a professional boxer after retirement. Flintoff shredded a lot of weight for his boxing ambition.

The Englishman won the much-hyped dual against Richard Dawson in 2012. However, Flintoff gave up boxing after that and made a brief T20 comeback in cricket in 2014-15 where he played in the Big Bash League. Flintoff is currently involved in the real estate business.