Five Cricketers Who Have Changed Their Names

Published 10/27/2019, 2:42 AM EDT

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Sometimes we see a couple of people change their birth names – be it for religion issue or maybe for any other reasons. Here are the five cricketers who changed their names.

Asghar Afghan, the former Afghanistan captain who was born Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai, has decided to change his surname in August 2018. While he was asked about this, he said that he was pleased to have changed it to the word ‘Afghan’ after his name. He also mentioned how it should be the national duty for the Afghans to protect the national identity.

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However, the decision became official when he registered for the new Electronic National Identity Cards (E-tazkira) with the surname. Later the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had also shared the news on their official Twitter handle.

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Former India cricket and the youngest ever Test Captain, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, had also changed his name who was the 6 Nawab of Pataudi. He was mere 11 years old when he had received the title in 1952 after his father passed away. Later, he made his International debut in 1961 and was handed over the captaincy within a year when he was only 21 years old. Although he had played under his name until 1971, the Government of India officially ceased the princely titles and he changed his name to Nawab of Pataudi junior.

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He had represented India in 46 Test Matches where he scored 2793 runs which came at an average of 34.91. His highest score was unbeaten 203 and he also holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match while batting at number six in the history of Test cricket (554).

Bob Willis, who used to create trouble for the batsmen across the globe in his time and also England’s 4 highest test wicket taker also changed his name. He bagged 325 wickets was second only to Dennis Lillee in his time and earned the praise from Ian Botham.

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Bob Willis, although was born Robert George Willis, he was impressed by the class and aura of Bob Dylan. After getting influenced by the famous musician, he decided to adopt his second name into his name as well. The former Robert George Willis, however, made a legal document for change of name, in 1965. After his retirement he became a commentator with Sky Sports.

Mohammad Yousuf who was born Yousuf Youhana, one of the very few Christians played for the Pakistan. Surprisingly, he was only the fourth Christian and fifth non-Muslim to have played for Pkistan before changing his religion to Islam.

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He is the only non-Muslim to lead Pakistan during the tour of Australia in 2004-05. However, after attending the teachings of Tablighi Jamaat, he decided to change his religion. His wife Tania, also supported him and adopted the religion as well as changed her name to Fatima. After having kept the news was kept private for three months due to family reasons, he officially announced the news in September 2005.

Tillakaratne Dilshan isone of the best players of Sri Lanka. He not only opened the inning for his side but also was a handy off-spinner.He was also the first player to score a hundred as the captain in across formats.

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However,he also changed his name due to religious reason. He was born a Muslim with the name Tuwan Mohammad Dilshan but later changed to Buddhism which is his mother’s religion, after his parents got divorced. However, his childhood coach Ranjan Paranavitana revealed that although he had a Muslim name, he and his siblings used  to follow their mother’s religion from their childhood.

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Written by:

Shruti Banerjee

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