Election: A graveyard of reputations for former Indian cricketers

From Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi to Manoj Prabhakar, Chetan Sharma and Mohammad Kaif — all of whom contested the polls and lost — the political arena has seldom been kind to Indian cricketers. Prominent sportstars, particularly cricketers, going on to contest the polls is a common phenomenon. But the political battlefield can be a graveyard of reputations in this country — of the seven cricketers who contested the Lok Sabha polls till date, only four have won.

Among those who contested the Lok Sabha polls and lost are big names like Pataudi, Prabhakar and Kaif. Pataudi became the first Indian cricketer to contest the Lok Sabha polls in India when he fought from Gurgaon in 1971 on a Haryana Vishal Party ticket. The Nawab lost the polls and returned to the cricket field, only to try his luck one more time in 1991, this time from Bhopal on a Congress ticket. But the outcome was no different, as he lost to BJP at a time when the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was at its peak. The former Indian skipper chose to walkaway from politics after that.

Former all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar contested from the South Delhi seat on an All India Congress ticket, but fared rather badly, managing to get only 3.34% of the votes. Another all-rounder, Mohammad Kaif, contested more recently, from his hometown of Allahabad in 2014 on a Congress ticket, and lost.

Four former cricketers have gone on to contest the Lok Sabha polls successfully. 

Navjot Singh Sidhu who won from Amritsar in 2004, Kirti Azad who has won for three consecutive times from Darbhanga, Chetan Chauhan who won from Amroha in 1991 and 1998, and Mohammad Azharuddin who won from Moradabad in 2014. Among them, Azad is the only one who is in the fray this time. 

Punjab minister Sidhu and his wife reportedly declined to contest the polls as Congress did not offer them tickets from the prestigious Chandigarh seat. Despite speculations that Azharuddin would be fielded from Hyderabad to take on AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, the former skipper was overlooked for both the Hyderabad and Secunderabad seats.This is the first time that Congress has not given him a ticket.

Kirti Azad is the only prominent cricketer-turned-politician in the poll fray this time, with Congress having fielded him from the Dhanbad seat in Jharkhand. Azad recently joined Congress after he was suspended from BJP for speaking out against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and alleging of the latter’s involvement in a “Rs 400 crore-scam in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA)”.

Kirti Azad will be contesting polls on a Congress ticket this time.

Former World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir, who recently joined BJP, is another prominent former cricketer who could begin his electoral innings this time. Gambhir’s name has been included in afresh list of 31 probable candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. Speculation has been rife that BJP will field him from the New Delhi seat, which is currently held by Meenakshi Lekhi. BJP is yet to announce its list of candidates for Delhi.

Among those former cricketers who were reportedly contacted by BJP this time but decided to stay away from electoral politics, atleast for now, are former offie Harbhajan Singh and former swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag.  “I am not sure if this is the right time to join politics. Even if I make up my mind, there is very less time left to make preparations for the polls,” Harbhajan had told the Hindustan Times. Sehwag reportedly decided to stay away citing “personal reasons”.

Only five Indian cricketers have contested assembly elections till date — Navjot Singh Sidhu (Congress), Kirti Azad (BJP), Chetan Chauhan (BJP), Vinod Kambli (Lok Bharti Party) and Sreesanth (BJP). While the first three emerged winners, Kambli and Sreesanth did not taste success. Kambli unsuccessfully contested the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly election from Vikhroli seat in Mumbaiand Sreesanth lost from Thiruvananthapuram in 2016.