Cricketers have often been known for their hardcore efforts and magnificent performances on the field and over the years, they have garnered all the appreciations for the same reasons only. Still, there are few of the cricketers who have tried their luck in other domains like Politics , Films and other stuff and amongst the lot, there’s only fewer who have been able to make their mark in the respective domain altogether.
Politics is one such field which has attracted some of the most prolific cricketers around the world and there are many of them, who have achieved immense success in the whole process. With the discussion happening around the same subject, let’s take a look at the list of 5 famous cricketers who have turned into Politicians after they bid adieu to their International careers.
#5 Navjot Singh Sidhu (India)
Navjot Singh Sidhu can certainly be termed as one of the most influential cricketers of his era who has not only excelled on the cricket field with his exhilarant display of batting up the order for the Indian team, but also earned the name “Jonty Singh” for being a fantastic fielder in the process. This amazing player has had a fabulous career whilst playing for the Indian team as an opening batsman and he went on to serve the Indian cricket for almost two decades.
Once he got retired from Cricket, he tried his luck in Cricket commentary and also became a part of some TV shows during the process. Within a span of few years, he earned great respect and fame in the showbiz world along with his cricket commentary but it was the year 2004, which saw him turned his head into Politics while becoming a member of National Political party of India, BJP (Bhartiya janta party).Sidhu field his nomination from his local constituency Amritsar and won the elections eventually. Sidhu left BJP in 2016 but still got nominated for Rajya sabha membership and eventually joined another Political party congress in 2017.He is still serving as a cabinet minister in Punjab government and fulfilling his role with all the dedication.
#4 Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri lanka)
Arjuna Ranatunga is one of the highly regarded players in the cricket world and the only Srilankan captain who took them to World cup glory in 1996.Whilst been a highly acclaimed Batsman, Ranatunga was also been famous for his leadership skills and that was something which ultimately paved his ways towards the Political arena eventually.
Even after he got retirement from cricket, he served the Srilankan cricket by serving on different administrative posts and played an important role in their resurrection post the World cup winning era. Moreover, it was the year 2001 which saw him joining the Sri lanka freedom party where he participated in the Parliamentary elections from the Colombo district and went on to lend his services to the country whilst being the Deputy minister of Industry tourism and investment promotion. As of now, he is serving as a cabinet minister to the Srilankan central government whilst being the minister of ports and shipping.
#3 Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
Sanath Jayasuriya is amongst those few Srilankan cricketers, who have proved his prowess in the world of cricket whilst being a great hitter of the ball coming up the order for his national team. He was the one who revolutionized One day cricket with attacking strategy in the power play along with his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharna and for the next many years, Jayasuriya went on to earn some huge fame for his splendid hitting abilities. He took srilankan cricket to greater heights and single handedly won numerous games for his team in the process.
Apart from his cricketing abilities, Jayasuriya has had a successful stint as a politician and he was one of those few cricketers, who did participate in politics during his playing days.His Political career got kick started whilst he field his nomination from Matar district in 2010 and eventually won the elections from the same constituency. His big job came ahead while he got selected as the Deputy Minister of the UPFA government which worked under the leadership of Mahindra Rajapaksa. Apart from cricket and Politics, Jayasuriya did tried his hand in cricket commentary as well and he worked as a mentor for the IPL cricket team Mumbai Indians after playing them for around two years as an opening batsman.
#2 Mohammed Azharuddin (India)
Mohammed Azharuddin has always been recognized as an elegant Indian batsman hailing from the land of Char -Meenaars, Hyderabad. During his earlier cricketing days only, he has impressed everyone with his stylish play and attacking batting and that was something which eventually led to his rise in the Indian cricket over the years. He batted for Indian cricket team in the middle order and also captained the side for 47 test matches in the process.
However, dark clouds of Cricket fixing overshadowed his cricket career and he was eventually banned by the BCCI for an alleged involvement in match fixing scandal in 2000.His inception in to the world of Indian politics came in 2009 when he joined the Indian national congress party and won the election form UP’s Moradabad to become an active member of Parliament in the process. Quite recently, he has been elected as the head of Hyderabad Cricket association and started his new innings in Cricket as an administrator.
#1 Imran Khan (Pakistan)
If we have to talk about the most successful “Cricketer turned Politician” it has to be the legendary Pakistani all-rounder Imran Khan. After retiring from International cricket in 1992 whilst taking Pakistan to the World cup glory, Imran khan started his own Political party named “ Tehreek –e-Insaaf” within the same year only.
Even though Imran khan was a recognized name in Pakistan, he did not do well initially in his Political career and many have termed his switch to politics as a poor decision. However, he did not give up and after going through 22 years of agony and defeat, he finally became the Prime minister of Pakistan after his party won the general elections in the country in 2018.As of now, he is been highly appraised and appreciated for his initiatives and policies in the interest of the country and seems like the good times are on board for the legendary cricketer
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