From 22 Yards To Politics: Cricketers Who Turned Politicians

The connection between Cricketers and politicians goes a long way, we have seen many Indian Cricketers deciding to pick up the mic not in the sport but in the rallies.

While some players have made a name for themselves, some have found the going tough and have left the arena.

Without taking much time let's have a glance at the top 10 Indian players who chose politics post Cricket career

Top 10 Cricketers Who Turned Politicians

1. Kirti Azad

Kirti Azad was a member of the World Cup-winning team in 1983 playing under Kapil Dev. Azad has had a big and intriguing political career having made the switch from the Bhartiya Janta Party to the Congress, he contested the elections from Darbhanga, Bihar, tasted victory on all three occasions, and represented the constituency as a member of parliament each time.

2. Navjot Singh Sidhu

After a good Cricket career, Sidhu decided to try his hand at politics he started his political innings in 2004 by joining the BJP, Sidhu won the Amritsar seat in his first electoral contest, and he held onto the position for a decade. Differences began between him and the party which resulted in Sidhu resigning from the post in 2016. He joined the Congress party in the very same year, he was elected to the Punjab legislative assembly from East Amritsar as a congress member.

3. Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir who recently parted ways from politics was an active member of Parliament from East Delhi from BJP. He left politics as he wanted to focus more on Cricket and took up a mentoring role with Kolkata Knight Riders.

4. Mohammad Azharuddin

Former Indian player Mohammad Azharuddin has had his share of ups and downs, his cricket career was marred with controversies relating to match-fixing. He joined politics in 2009 representing Congress Azharuddin had a memorable debut in politics as he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. he lost the elections in 2014, but he made his intentions clear again that he will contest again in the elections of 2019.

5. Mohammad Kaif

Mohammad Kaif didn't have a memorable time as a politician, he tasted defeat, he lost the 2014 elections as a congress member from the Phulpur District in Uttar Pradesh.

6. S Sreesanth

Sreesanth had a controversial Cricket career he was often in the news because of his on-field and off-field behavior. Sreesanth was banned from Cricket for his entire lifetime due to his involvement in match-fixing in the 2013 season of the IPL.

7. Manoj Tiwary

Former Bengal and India batter Manoj Tiwary joined Trinamool Congress in 2021 he is an MLA from the Shibpur constituency in West Bengal.

8. Vinod Kambli

Former India Batter Vinod Kambli joined the Lok Bharati Party from Maharashtra, he lost in the Vidhan Sabha elections in 2009. He is not an active member of politics anymore.

9. Harbhajan Singh

Former Indian Off Spinner Harbhajan Singh Joined the Aam Aadmi Party, he is a member of Rajya Sabha currently.

10. Ambati Rayudu

Former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu joined YSRCP, a political party from Andhra Pradesh in 2023. Within a week Rayudu withdrew himself from entering politics.