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Lonwabo Tsotsobe: The name of former South African left-arm fast bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe was once a feared name in international cricket. Even the world’s greatest batsmen would bow down before Sotsobe’s precise line-length and swing, who became the world number-1 bowler in the ICC ODI rankings in 2012. But a wrong decision and the quagmire of match fixing completely ruined his brilliant career. Today, away from the cricket field, Sotsobe is living his life as a DJ.

Fixing scandal of 2015 and 8 years ban

The decline of Tsotsobe’s career started in South Africa’s domestic T20 tournament RAM Slam in 2015. In April 2017, charges were framed against him for conspiring to fix matches and accepting bribes in return. Tsotsobe had admitted one charge of match-fixing and nine remaining charges of not cooperating in the investigation. After which Cricket South Africa (CSA) imposed a strict ban of 8 years on him, which put an end to his cricket career forever.

In this scandal, not only Tsotsobe, but players like Ghulam Bodi, Alviro Pietersen, Thami Tsolekile, Gene Symes, Pumi Matshikiwe and Athi Bhalati were also sentenced to a ban of 2 to 20 years. Due to this incident, Sotsobe was also arrested in the year 2025.

Period of depression and found support in music

It is not easy for any player to suddenly step away from a game like cricket. After the ban, Sotsobe went through a period of severe mental stress and depression. In these dark times, his family and his old passion for music gave him new life. Sotsobe made his hobby his new profession. Tsotsobe is now known across South Africa as ‘DJ Tso’. He performs as a DJ in clubs, concerts and events in different cities of the country and earns money from this. The bowler who used to uproot batsmen on the field is now entertaining people by playing tunes on the music console.