Pakistani spinner who took Tendulkar, Dravid wickets, now drives taxi

Sydney, Sep 1: Former Pakistani off-spinner Arshad Khan, who once took batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's , is now driving a taxi in Sydney after his retirement from the game.

Arshad played 9 Tests and 58 ODIs for Pakistan from 1997 to 2006. In his short international career, he took 88 wickets including that of Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

Tendulkar was dismissed LBW for 100, by Arshad in a ODI in Peshawar in 2006 while Dravid (16) was by Younis Khan off Arshad in captain Inzamam-ul-Haq's 100th Test match, in Bengaluru in 2005.

According to Facebook user Ganesh Birle, 44-year-old Arshad is now driving a Uber taxi in Australia. "Met Arshad khan, the Pakistani cricketer in a Sydney Uber taxi and he was the taxi driver... ‪#‎sad‬," Birle wrote on his Facebook page yesterday (August 31).

"He was the driver of our cab and we started chatting, he told me that he is from Pakistan and lives in Sydney. Also that he has been to Hyderabad many times when he was playing for Lahore Badshahs in ICL (Indian Cricket League). Afterwhich I asked him his full name and then I was shocked to see his face which I could partially recognise. I shook his hand and left," he added replying to comments from cricket fans.

"He was avoiding the conversation all the time, but at the same time he couldn't help but talk about his India connection. Imagine he introduced himself as "I am from Pakistan but I have been here in Sydney for a long time now" Also like a good Uber driver he offered us water and stuff when we sat in the car," he further stated.

The tall spinner, who hails from Peshawar, was part of Pakistan's squads that visited India in 1999 and 2005. He played ODIs in Jamshedpur, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kanpur and Delhi. The right-hander's only Test appearance in India was in Bengaluru, where Pakistan clinched a famous victory by 168 runs.

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