Reports: Gautam Gambhir to contest Delhi elections for BJP

He might have played his last international match almost two years ago but Gautam Gambhir is never really off the headlines. If reports are to be believed, the southpaw is set to contest the next elections in Delhi for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). If that happens to be a reality, then Gambhir will be the latest to join the long tradition of cricketers joining politics in India.

Delhi is currently under the rule of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) while all its representatives to the Lok Sabha are from the BJP. If Gambhir contests on a BJP ticket in the next elections, it will certainly boost the saffron party’s appeal, thanks to the fan following the local cricketer has in the state.

BJP to convince the cricketer

According to a report in Dainik Jagran, the BJP is likely to convince the 36-year-old batsman to participate in the next elections. The BJP lost the last elections in Delhi in 2015 to Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP by a wide margin and will look to rope in young faces to lure the voters. Though Gambhir is yet to retire from the game, he might still accept the invitation to contest the elections and take up the challenge off the field. He has been known for his charity works and a political designation would give him more opportunity on that front.

The flamboyant left-hander has played 58 Tests and 147 ODIs for India but is out of favour as an opener since new players have evolved. The man nevertheless has a glorious cricketing career. He played crucial roles in the finals of two world cricket championships — the World Twenty20 in 2007 and ICC World Cup in 2011 – besides leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to two Indian Premier League titles.

His last international appearance was in a Test match against England in Rajkot in November 2016. This year, Gambhir returned to his old IPL team, the Delhi Daredevils, but stepped down from captaincy midway and also got dropped from team owing to bad form.

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