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Arshad Khan: From ex-Pakistan cricketer to Uber cabbie

The 44-year-old cricketer played for Pakistan from 1997-2006. One of his career highlights was taking the wicket of Indian cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar in an ODI in 2006.

Making his debut in 1997-98, former Pakistan cricketer Arshad Khan would have never imagined his life would have played out the way it did - driving a taxi in Australia.

A few days back, the tall Khan, was back in the spotlight when Ganesh Birle, who had apparently booked his Uber cab in Sydney, posted a photo of the ex-cricketer's Uber profile.

In his Facebook post, Birle recounted his brief encounter with the right-arm offbreak bowler:

"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 something in ICL. After which 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 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 from Pakistan [sic] but I have been here in Sydney for long time now'. Also like a good Uber driver he offered us water and stuff when we sat in the car."

According to Arshad Khan's profile on espncricinfo.com, the 44-year-old hails from Peshawar in Pakistan and enjoyed a rather brief stint in the national side, playing nine Test matches and 58 One-Day Internationals, which ended in 2006. Both his last Test and ODI came against India at Bangalore and Rawalpindi respectively.

One of the highlights of Khan's career was taking the wicket of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar in an 2006 ODI versus India at Peshawar.

Khan had played for the following teams, across all formats: Pakistan, Allied Bank, ICL Pakistan XI, Islamabad, Lahore Badshahs, Pakistan Railways, Peshawar, Peshawar Panthers, Quetta, Quetta Bears

His career effectively came to an early end after signing up for the Indian Cricket League, when several Pakistani players were banned from representing the country in international cricket, including star openers Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar. However, the ban was suspended in 2009.