From Sachin Tendulkar's Rival To Boat Cleaner: How Henry Olonga's Life Took A Dramatic Turn

NDTV

22-05-2025

For Indian cricket fans, especially those who grew up in the 1990s, the name Henry Olonga evokes a vivid memory of a fierce on-field rivalry. In the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup final in Sharjah, Olonga, a young Zimbabwean fast bowler, faced the wrath of Sachin Tendulkar, who scored an unbeaten 124 off 92 balls, leading India to a 10-wicket victory. Olonga conceded 50 runs in just six overs during that match.
Beyond this memorable encounter, Henry Olonga's life took a dramatic turn. In 2003, he and teammate Andy Flower wore black armbands during a World Cup match to protest against the "death of democracy" in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe's regime. This act of defiance led to death threats and forced Olonga into exile. He settled in Australia, where he pursued a career in music, even participating in "The Voice" in 2019. Olonga's journey from cricket to music has not been very pleasing as many expect, and his life has taken a massive turn for him over the past decade, according to The Telegraph.
In a conversation with the newspaper, Henry Olonga recites the lyrics of a song he recorded when he was a Zimbabwean cricketer at the height of his career in the early 2000s and before he was exiled from his country.
'One of the lines goes: "Though I may go to distant borders, my soul will yearn for this, my home, for time and space may separate us, and yet she holds my heart alone.' And then another is, 'As we all stand to build our nation, this is our land, our Zimbabwe.'"
Olonga pauses. "Literally some of the words in that song... they speak of where my life is now, but when I listen to the song again, it's somewhat triggering."
As per the newspaper, he has never been back to Zimbabwe. He has not seen his father, who is now in his mid-80s and still lives in Bulawayo, for more than 20 years.
He now releases music on his YouTube channel and picks up gigs where he can. Recently he was singing on cruise ships. "It's not necessarily the peak of music performance being on a cruise ship. In fact, some people think that singers go to die on cruise ships. It's like where you go when you haven't made it anywhere else.
"But I don't mind that. I don't have an ego about my music. I sing in little retirement villages, I've sung to school kids, and I've sung in little bars in front of three people. I just love singing. I love performing.
"I've done all sorts of jobs. I've cleaned people's boats. I've done public speaking, as in motivational talks and after-dinner talks. I won't say I'm having the time of my life, because I just live a sort of drab, very predictable, boring life in some people's eyes, but at least it's honest, and I'm staying out of trouble."
Olonga was close to returning when Mugabe, who died in 2019, was overthrown in 2017, but there was no homecoming; he remained in Australia. "It's in the too-hard basket. I've started a new life. I think like a Westerner now. I live in Adelaide, where things just work.