Gambhir joins club of cricketers-turned-politicians

New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir became the latest cricketer to take the plunge into politics on Friday when he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party here in the presence

Kirti Azad:
The former all-rounder, who was part of the 1983 World Cup-winning squad, represented the BJP and won from Bihar's Darbhanga constituency thrice. In February 2019, he joined the Congress. Son of former Chief Minister of Bihar Bhagwat Jha Azad, Kirti Azad was an aggressive right-hand batsman and a quickish off-spinner. He was previously an MLA from Delhi's Gole Market constituency.

Chetan Chauhan:
Chetan Chauhan, who was Sunil Gavaskar's opening partner in Tests, has twice been a Member of Parliament from Amroha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He retired from international cricket after scoring 2,000 test runs without any century. After his cricket career finished in 1981 he moved into politics, joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is serving as Minister for Youth and Sports in Uttar Pradesh.

Mohammad Kaif:
Mohammad Kaif, who featured in 125 ODIs and 13 Tests between 2000 and 2006, joined Congress and contested 2014 Lok Sabha election from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh. He was defeated by BJP's Keshav Prasad Maurya, who is Deputy Chief Minister in the state. He is regarded as one of the best fielders in the Indian cricket team owing to his great athletic and throwing skills. He retired from all formats of cricket on July 13, 2018.

Besides, the Indian cricketers, former cricket captains Imran Khan (Pakistan), Arjun Ranatunga and Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) and captain of Bangladesh cricket team Mashrafe Murtaza tasted victories in politics.

Imran Khan:
He is at present the most prominent face of a cricketer-turned-politician. The former Pakistan captain was last year elected the country's Prime Minister. Imran, who led Pakistan to its only World Cup title in 1992, last July won the most seats in the elections for his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Arjun Ranatunga:
Arguably Sri Lanka's greatest captain-ever, Arjuna Ranatunga joined politics after retiring and has been a Member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka for Gampaha constituency. In 2015, he was appointed as the Minister of Ports and Shipping having earlier held the post of Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Tourism.

Sanath Jayasuriya:
Ranatunga's 1996 World Cup-winning team-mate and one of the most devastating openers that cricket has seen, Sanath Jayasuriya was elected as Member of Parliament from his native Matara district for one full term and has served as the Deputy Union Minister of postal services and later as the Deputy Union Minister of Local Government and Rural Development under president.

Mashrafe Mortaza:
He has registered a landslide victory in the 11th general elections in Bangladesh. He became the first active cricketer in Bangladesh to be elected as a lawmaker. Mortaza, an Awami League candidate for Narail-2 constituency, got 2,74,418 votes while his rival Jatiya Oikya Front alliance nominee Fariduzzaman Farhad received 8,006 votes.

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IANS