5 Cricketers whose life drowned after a successful cricketing career

In the modern-day era of the game of cricket, there is n number of cricketers who have a lavishing lifestyle and acquire good wealth. Speaking from the Indian perspective, the first cricketer to have Ferrari was none other than the former legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar. Whereas the superbike collection of former skipper MS Dhoni is famous in the entire cricketing World.

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Similarly, the Universe boss and former Caribbean legend Chris Gayle own a big house that can give tough competition to any five-star hotel with its luxurious look and lavish facilities.

When it comes to the current generation of cricketers, they are getting rich by getting contracts of the cash-rich T20 tournament like the Indian T20 League and its counterpart Pakistan Super League.

But we shouldn’t forget that a few years ago, it was not that easy for cricketers to survive for the rest of their life with the money they earned during their cricketing career.

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With said that, Here we’ll have a look at five cricketers whose fortunes turned extremely 180 degrees and they turned rich to poor due to their misuse of the money.

1. Arshad Khan

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The Peshawar-born off-spinner made his first international appearance for Pakistan in the Sharjah ODI of 1993 against Zimbabwe. Since then, he went on to appear in nine Tests and 58 ODIs for the national team of Pakistan till his last appearance in international cricket against India in Rawalpindi ODI on the 11^th of February 2006.

A report in Khaleej times understood that Arshad Khan moved to the Australian city of Sydney where he has been working as an Uber Taxi driver for his survival. It is just one of the examples of the miserable condition of former cricketers after retiring from the game.

2. Adam Holioake

The Melbourne-born Australian-English all-rounder Adam Holioake appeared first time in international cricket for England against Pakistan in the Birmingham ODI of 1997. Although his cricketing career could last only for four Tests and 35 ODIs.

Holioake played his last international match against India and that too at the same ground of Birmingham where he made his debut. Later on, he started his own company and tried his fortune in the line business. But later on, in the year 2008, his company went on to crash during the global recession of 2008. It was the time when the former English all-rounder declared himself bankrupt.

Subsequently, Holioake moved to Mixed Martial Arts (MMS) to make his earnings for daily and he is currently active there.

3. Matthew Sinclair

Matthew Sinclair was known as ­one of the finest wicketkeeper-batters ever to play the game for New Zealand. Although, life was not easy to face for him as he lost his father when he was only 4. Katherine-born Australian origin Sinclair switched to New Zealand along with his mother after his father’s death.

Talking about cricket, Sinclair made his first international appearance for New Zealand in 1999 against West Indies in Wellington Test. Since then, he played till 2010 and appeared in 33 Tests, 54 ODIs, and two T20Is as well.

After retiring from international cricket, he didn’t have any job for his survival which subsequently affected his married life as well.

The guy who smashed a double century on his debut is currently working as a real estate salesperson in Napier to make his bread.

4. Chris Cairns

The former veteran all-rounder, Chris Cairns probably had one of the longest careers in international cricket for New Zealand. The cricket pundits and fans at that time dubbed him as one of the best players in both trades with bat and ball after Sir Richard Hadlee. Apart from his excellence in the game, he also had a big fan following women for his outstanding physique and curly hair.

Cairns played 62 Tests, 215 ODIs, and 2 T20Is in his 17-year-long career for New Zealand. After retiring from international cricket, he started as a diamond merchant in Dubai in 2010. But later, the rise of match-fixing allegations again in 2013 cost him too much which worsened his economic conditions.

5. Janardhan Navle

The name which may not be known to most of the people of the cricketing fraternity of the current generation. But the fact is that Janardhan Navle was the first-ever Test wicketkeeper in the history of the Indian cricket team. Notably, he was a part of India’s historic debut Test match in 1932 against England. He could play only 2 Tests for the national team of India.

There are few media reports that learned that Navle had to spend the last days of his life as a beggar on the Mumbai-Pune Highway (then Bombay). Whereas some reports understood, he had to work as a watchman in a sugar mill in Pune. It's probably the hardest pill to swallow after knowing about the fact that the cricketer who played for his country in the first-ever international match had to end up as a beggar just before his last breath.