5 Popular cricketers who joined politics

Cricket is a part of someone’s life. There is a certain time period that each player has and once done, there are various paths that a player chooses. Over the years, we have seen a lot of former cricketers take different routes in their respective careers and lives post cricket.

One of the most common paths is stints in the commentary box. A lot of former cricketers join the media and the television industry. They try to provide insights on the game through commentary. Another role taken up is coaching. Quite a few former players try to associate themselves with some or the other coaching role. Even if it is not full time, they link themselves with various T20 leagues.

Another option is certainly politics. Not a lot of cricketers take that route but there have been a few popular faces who have jumped into politics in their second innings of life. Thus, let’s look back at five such cricketers who turned to politics as a career option post cricket.

1. Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir is the latest cricketer to have turned to politics. He is one of the most successful Indian cricketers. He played a crucial role in India’s World T20 win in 2007 and World Cup win in 2011. The Delhi opener announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in December last year. However, it was back in 2016 when Gambhir last played for India in international cricket. It was in a Test match against England in Rajkot.

Gambhir has joined the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and will contest from one of the seven polls in Delhi. He said that it’s the vision of the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi that influenced him to turn to politics and join BJP.

2. Navjot Singh Sidhu

Navjot Singh Sidhu has been associated with politics for almost 15 years now. The Punjab-born player was a part of India’s 1987 World Cup side that lost in the semi-final. He played first-class cricket for close to 20 years while his international career spanned for 16 years.

Having scored in excess of 7700 runs and 15 centuries in international cricket, he turned to commentary and politics soon after hanging up his boots. It was back in 2004 when he joined the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). He contested the elections from Amritsar and won it the very first time. He was an MP for 10 years.

In 2016, he became a member of the Rajya Sabha and then joined the Congress in the following year.

3. Imran Khan

Imran Khan is one of the biggest examples of a cricketer-turned-politician. He had an international career that spanned almost 21 years. He led Pakistan to the World Cup title in 1992. The Lahore-born player is one of the finest cricketers to have represented Pakistan. In fact, he was rated as one of the best all-rounders of all time.

But ever since he retired, Imran Khan has taken a serious turn into politics. In 1996, he created his own political party. The party and Khan, both had their fair share of ups and downs. They were pretty unsuccessful at the start. However, they’ve turned it around and now, Imran Khan is the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He won the general elections in 2018.

4. Mohammad Azharuddin

The former Indian skipper has had a controversial career has contested elections twice already. Mohammad Azharuddin had a pretty successful career, both as captain and as a player. He scored over 15,000 international runs and struck 29 centuries. However, he was accused of match-fixing which brought his career to a screeching halt.

In 2009, he was convinced to turn to politics by his brother. He contested in the 2009 general elections from the Congress party and in fact, won it from Moradabad to become a Member of Parliament. He contested once again in 2014 from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan but didn’t have the same impact and lost.

5. Arjuna Ranatunga

Arjuna Ranatunga is another famous cricketer who turned to politics in the second innings of his life. The former Sri Lankan cricketer led his country to the World Cup title back in 1996. Under his captaincy, Sri Lankan cricket came into the limelight. He might have scored just eight centuries in his international career but he amassed more than 12,500 international runs and has 87 fifties to his name. He played close to 20 years before calling it a day in 2000.

It was in 2001 that Ranatunga entered the political fray when he contested in the 2001 parliamentary elections from the Colombo district. In the Tourism and Investment Promotion, he has served as Deputy Minister of Industry. He also served as the Cabinet Minister of Ports and Shipping for a couple of years (2015-2017).