5 Indian cricketers turned politicians

The election season in India has reached its climax - 23rd May would be the D-day when results of the world's biggest democratic fest - Lok Sabha elections 2019 would be declared. Heated arguments between opposition parties, Twitter trolling, controversial remarks, a few constructive discussions and minute-by-minute coverage by the media, has turned Lok Sabha 2019 elections into a complete summer soap opera.

In the post-retirement plans of most of the celebrities, joining politics tops the list. Many businessmen, actors, social workers and ex-cricketers have jumped into politics.

Cricketers across India are showered with love which gives them an edge over other politicians and a strong base to start off their political career. A few of them have risen to become seasoned politicians, a few have quit as they could not garner same admiration as they did when they were active cricketers and some others are making a debut this year.

Let us have a look at the journey of 5 such cricketers from the cricket field to the field of politics.

#1 Navjot Singh Sidhu

An aggressive hard-hitting batsman, a controversial commentator, a TV celebrity and a veteran politician now - Navjot Singh Sidhu has donned different hats. Once a very quiet and shy individual, Sidhu turned into an absolute opposite post his cricket career - an articulate speaker having a poetic answer to everything.

His career as a commentator came to a screeching end when he was axed by ICC and consequently by Star Sports for inappropriate remarks in the pre and post-match shows during the 2003 World Cup against the Bangladesh cricket team.

Navjot Singh Sidhu has turned into a powerful politician smashing the opposition with his words (Image Courtesy: New Indian Express)

Post that, in 2004, Sidhu joined the BJP and won his very first elections in the same year from Amritsar. He served as an MP for 10 years and went on to join the Indian National Congress (INC) in 2017.

He is currently the Minister of Local Government, Tourism, Cultural Affairs, and Museums in the Punjab government.

#2 Gautam Gambhir

Making his debut in politics with the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the ravishing southpaw Gautam Gambhir has waltz onto the election scene. The man who scored over 10,000 runs in international cricket and was once at the zenith for his batting joined the BJP on March 22, 2019, and will be taking on Atishi Marlena representing AAP and Arvinder Singh Lovely from Congress.

Gautam Gambhir is making his debut as a politician with Lok Sabha elections 2019 (Image Courtesy: Indian Express)

In his debut stint as a BJP candidate, the ever so 'Gambhir' (Translation: serious and quiet) Gautam has transformed himself into a true politician - holding rallies, shouting slogans, giving interviews, indulging in the war of words and taking the opposition head-on.

The outspoken Gambhir 2.0 is determined to be a strong and successful MP and would be hoping that on 23rd May 2019 he 'sweeps' his opponents out of the park the way he swept spinners in cricket.

#3 Kirti Azad

Part of the legendary squad that won the 1983 World Cup, Kirti Azad was an all-rounder who played 25 ODIs and 7 Tests in his brief cricket international career. Having said that, he was an integral part of Delhi's Ranji team and a linchpin in their batting lineup scoring close to 5000 runs in 95 matches.

Veteran politician Kirti Azad would contest poll for the Dhanbad seat (Image Courtesy: NDTV.com)

Son of Bhagwat Jha Azad, former chief minister of Bihar, Kirti Azad's entry into politics post his cricket career was perceptible. Azad joined the BJP and is serving his third term as an MP from the Darbhanga constituency in Bihar.

He was suspended from the BJP in December 2015 for controversial remarks against the Union finance minister Arun Jaitley and later joined the Indian National Congress in February 2019.

Fighting for the Dhanbad seat this year, Azad is hoping to enter his fourth term as MP.

#4 Mohammad Kaif

Think of Mohammad Kaif and those pictures of the historic Lord's balcony where the 'Dada' of Indian Cricket Saurav Ganguly waved his shirt still reverberates in the minds of Indian fans who witnessed a young star rising and standing tall with the stalwarts of Indian cricket at that time - Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid and Ganguly.

Kaif went on to play 125 ODIs and 13 Tests for India and was instrumental in bringing about a paradigm shift in Indian fielding.

Mohammad Kaif contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Phulpur, UP (Image Courtesy: India.com)

Kaif decided to enter politics and joined the INC in 2014. He contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections for the Phulpur seat in UP. Unfortunately for him, he lost to BJP candidate Keshav Prasad Maurya.

He then called it quits and has shown no signs of re-entering politics as he seems to be enjoying his new role as the assistant coach of the successful Delhi Capitals franchise.

#5 Mohammad Azharuddin

The wristy and elegant batsman and one of India's most successful skippers, Mohammad Azharuddin scored a mind-blowing 29 centuries and over 15,000 runs in international cricket. His illustrious career came to a disastrous end when the match-fixing scandal shook the cricket fraternity to the core and found Azharuddin one of the prime accused in the same.

Mohammad Azharuddin has not been given a ticket by the INC this election (Image Courtesy: news18.com)

After staying away from the limelight from almost a decade, Azharuddin decided to enter politics in the year 2009 and contested in the Lok Sabha elections from Moradabad for INC.

He ended up winning the seat by a fair margin and once a graceful batsman, Azharuddin made a pretty grand entry into politics giving a fitting reply to the opposition who poured scorn on his selection.

Currently, he is the Working President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee but won't be able to contest this year as the INC denied him a ticket.