Tillakaratne Dilshan to Wayne Parnell: Reputed cricketers who pathed to a new religion

Religion is one thing that people are born and brought up with. Here are some of the cricketers who changed their religion.

Team Newsable

New Delhi, First Published Oct 15, 2020, 3:54 PM IST | Last Updated Oct 15, 2020, 4:00 PM IST

Religion is truly one’s roots and it's hard to part away from them. They are something that one has lived with ever since the first breath. However, out of circumstances, many have to change their religions. Here are some of the cricketers who did so.

Tillakaratne Dilshan
The prolific opening batsman of Sri Lanka, Dilshan had played all the formats of the game for his country. Born into an Islamic family, and following the Malay group, Dilshan was named Tuwan Mohammad Dilshan at the time of his birth. Following his parents' separation when he was just 16, he took to following Buddhism, the religion his mother followed. It was after he started following Buddhism, his initials TM then stood for Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage.

Yousuf Youhana
Yousuf Youhana, a former Pakistan captain was born into a family of Christians. During his initial days when he was a Christian, he used to do the sign of the cross on completing his ton. However, he took to Islam in 2005-2006 and changed his name to Mohammad Yousuf and was seen in beard thereon. He even converted his wife and changed her name from Tania to Fatima.

Wayne Parnell
Eminent South Africa's pacer, who was also a Christian initially, chose Islam later in his life. It is believed that it was Hashim Amla who drew him towards this religion. However, as per reports, the team manager Mohammad Moosajee brushed away these things and said that there is no role of either Amla and Tahir in Parnell's decision to change from Christianity to Muslim. After converting to Islam in 2011, Parnell changed his name to Wayne Waleed Parnell.

Suraj Randiv
The wristy spinner from Sri Lanka changed his religion and was once Mohammed Marsuk Suraj. However, he was soon attracted by Buddhism and took a divergence from Islam. Since then, he is always known as Suraj Randiv.

Mahmudul Hasan
The young terrific all-rounder from Bangladesh, cricketer Mahmudul Hasan was the one who converted from Muslim to Hindu religion. Part of the Under-19 World Cup squad initially, he played a Test for Bangladesh with the name of Mahmudul Hasan. Thereafter, he converted to the Hindu religion and changed his name to Vikash Ranjan Das. To the utter surprise, he never got a chance to represent Bangladesh then on.

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