Yusuf Pathan joins illustrious list of Indian cricketers who took political plunge

Yusuf Pathan will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from West Bengal's Berhampore on a TMC ticket. A look at other cricketers and their political innings.

Updated on: Mar 10, 2024, 17:16:13 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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Yusuf Pathan, who played 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is for India between September 2007 and March 2012, is the latest entrant to politics from cricket. On Sunday, Pathan was named by West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) as its candidate from the state's Berhampore seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls; the ex-cricketer, 42, is likely to face Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who has held the seat since 1999, and is a vocal critic of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal chief minister.

Yusuf Pathan has been named by Trinamool Congress as its candidate from the Berhampore seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. (PTI/File Photo)

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Also, Pathan, who is from Gujarat's Vadodara, played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise based in Kolkata, West Bengal's capital city.

Here are some other Indian cricketers who entered politics:

Gautam Gambhir (BJP): Sitting parliamentarian from East Delhi; recently requested the party to relieve him from political duties.

Kirti Azad (TMC): Previously was a member of both the BJP and the Congress, respectively. Has been fielded from Durgapur by TMC.

Navjot Singh Sidhu (Congress): Also an ex-BJP leader, the former opener is active in Punjab politics, and previously headed the Congress' state unit.

Manoj Tiwary (TMC): He is the sitting legislator from West Bengal's Shibpur assembly segment, and a minister in the Banerjee-led state government.

Mohammed Azharuddin (Congress): The former India captain became MP from Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad in 2009 on the party's ticket. In November last year, he unsuccessfully contested Telangana assembly election.

Chetan Chauhan (BJP): Passed away in August 2020; at the time of his demise, was a minister in the party's Uttar Pradesh government.

Sachin Tendulkar: The ‘Master Blaster’ was a Rajya Sabha member from April 2012 to April 2018.

A few other names include Sreesanth (BJP), Ashok Dinda (BJP), Mohammed Kaif (Congress), Mansoor Ali Khan ‘Tiger’ Pataudi (Vishal Haryana Party), and Vinod Kambli (Lok Bharati Party). More recently, Ambati Rayudu joined Andhra Pradesh's ruling YSR Congress Party but quit days later.

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