This post is about a man who played 9 tests took 32 wickets and 56 in 58 One dayers. The tall Arshad Khan played his last ODI against India at Rawalpindi stadium in Feb 2006 and his last test at Chinnaswamy stadium in Mar 2005 which Pak won by 168 runs. In the 2nd innings, he had figures of 14-8-21-2 that of Rahul Dravid and IrfanPathan.
Cricinfo player
profile reads that – for two reasons,
Arshad Khan shouldn't really be an offspinner; one, he is from Peshawar,
traditional home for fast bowlers and two, he is tall enough to be one. A year after his debut he took 5-38 and
helped Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship final at Dhaka.
He was then in and out of the Test side till 2001, when, after a Test against
England, he was overlooked for a further four years. But a strong showing in
Pakistan's domestic championship earned him a recall for Pakistan's tour of
India in 2005. He was only picked for one Test, the final one in Bangalore. He played ODI no. 2235 at Kochi and had
figures of 6-0-33-4 – wickets of Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, MS Dhoni and L
Balaji.
There is another
player - Gurinder Sandhu, Indian-origin pacer who made it to the Australian ODI
team. Sandhu, playing for New South Wales and Sydney Thunder, was
rewarded for his showing in the Big Bash League. Decades ago, Gurinder’s father shifted from village
Hardialeana in Faridkot (Punjab) to Sydney and became a cab driver.
The post in vikadan
mentions that the tall offie who played for Pakistan, Arshad Khan has since
shifted to Australia and is a cab driver now. He reportedly is working for Uber
and drives taxi at Sydney. An Indian who
occasioned to travel in his taxi, realised that his driver was in fact an
International cricketer and has posted photo and details on his twitter
account.
Now getting back to
the man in the first para – it is Ewen Chatfield, a hard-working, accurate
fast-medium bowler who, like his contemporary Richard Hadlee, seemed to get
better with age. Ewen Chatfield had an unforgetable Test debut against England
at Auckland in 1974-75, but for all the wrong reasons. After a stubborn
defensive innings at No. 11, he was struck on the temple by Peter Lever. His
heart stopped and he swallowed his tongue and only mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
and heart massage by Bernard Thomas, England's physiotherapist, saved his life.
He was rushed to hospital and, thankfully, regained consciousness an hour
later. He was recalled in 1976-77, when he bowled steadily and industriously.
Overshadowed by Hadlee, he nevertheless formed an effective an opening
partnership with him for a decade. When Hadlee was injured in 1987-88 against
England, Chatfield took 13 wickets at only 15 runs apiece. He was awarded an MBE
for his services to cricket.
During his playing
days, Ewen Chatfield was known as the Naenae Express ~and in his later days the
former New Zealand bowler became a taxi
driver. NZ Herald had a detailed article
on this cricketer turned cabbie few years ago.
In the cricket
crazy Nation such things cannot happen to one who played 43 Tests and fairly
successful pairing with the most iconic player of that country. One can't get over the fact that he drives a taxi.
Chatfield has seen hardship at times, but he is a satisfied man with no
complaints.Chatfield was also a man who very rarely appealed. Not for him the
backslaps and the send-offs. "I might have missed a few by not
appealing."
India was never the
place for him. His first time there, during the 1987 World Cup, he became the
final victim in Chetan Sharma's hat-trick, and in the same match got hit for 39
in 4.1 overs. Sunil Gavaskar scored his only ODI century,a fiery one, in that
game. In another tour, he fell ill.
After retirement,
he tried his hand in coaching – he is quoted as saying - "There was no
income. I got frustrated that I couldn't do enough in summer without killing
myself to make up for that." And just like that he called Corporate Cabs,
because he "liked driving around". He got the license and was
employed. In between he has worked as a courier, a salesman at a chip shop, and
has driven a dairy van. He is not in touch with any of his team-mates. He
claims he doesn't get nostalgic, doesn't watch old tapes ("I haven't even
seen the 50-run partnership with Jeremy Coney, against Pakistan, to win the
match"). There's no bitterness either.
It reads to be an extraordinary
life in a normal manner. Strange are the ways of people ~ and
back home, every mother wants their son to become Sachin, grind them in camps
expecting that they end up in IPL !!
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
2nd
Sept, 2015.
