5 cricketers who have held important government positions

#4 Arjuna Ranatunga

Ranatunga contested his first Parliamentary elections just a year after his retirement

As it turns out, Imran Khan is not the only ICC World Cup-winning skipper who found his ground in politics. The 1996 World Cup winning skipper of Sri Lanka, Arjuna Ranatunga contested his first Parliamentary elections with People's Alliance (PA) in 2001, just a year after his last game in Sri Lankan colours.

In 2004, he took charge as the Deputy Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Promotion. In 2010, he joined the Democratic Party and was made its deputy leader. He resigned from the party a couple of years later, and currently holds the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development.