Facing the music for fixing, DJ Tsotsobe plays a fresh tune
Lonwabo Tsotsobe, South Africa left-arm pacer who played in five Tests and 61 one-day internationals, had his cricket career terminated when he was banned for eight years for the 2015 match-fixing scandal that had enveloped the Ram Slam Twenty20 tournament.
Away from the game, Tsotsobe is now literally facing the music. At 33, he has now assumed a new avatar of a music DJ and is now known as DJ Tso. In a recent interview to the Drum Magazine in South Africa, Tsotsobe said he always loved music and would entertain friends as a hobby.
“People are shocked when they see me deejaying at local pubs. They think I am down and out but I am not,” Tsotsobe added.
In addition to music, Tsotsobe is also part of a company called Vardo Petroleum which supplies oil, petrol and diesel to petrol stations, farmers and mining companies.
Tsotsobe was charged in April 2017 with contriving to fix or improperly influence matches in the South Africa domestic Twenty20 Series and seeking to accept, or agreeing to accept, a bribe. The left-armer admitted to one charge of contriving to fix a match and nine separate charges of failing to co-operate properly with various investigations.
Gulam Bodi, Jean Symes, Pumi Matshikwe, Ethy Mbhalati, Thami Tsolekile and Alviro Petersen were previously banned for between two and 20 years for their part in the scandal.
Tsotsobe became the quickest South African to the 50 ODI wickets, achieving it in 27 games. On ODI debut, he picked up 4/50 against Australia. Briefly, he had become the No.1 ranked bowler in ODIs.