Anubhi Saxena
Delhi | Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir officially made his debut in politics by joining the BJP on Friday, 22 March, in the presence of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. He has used Twitter for his political commentary.
Gautam Gambhir was not the man to skip his words on the field and for now, off the field as well. The southpaw batsman declared himself, joining of BJP ahead the upcoming polls. He changed his track from Gautam Gambhir, the cricketer to Gautam Gambhir, the politician. He also thanked BJP for welcoming him and giving him opportunity for serving for his country.
When He Refused To Join Politics:
Gambhir shared a letter by Narendra Modi on 16 December 2018, in which the prime minister had praised him as “a dependable opener, who often took the team to flying starts.”
Then, soon Gambhir at the age of 37, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after Delhi’s Ranji Trophy clash against Andhra Pradesh. This step of his entering into politics made his twitter score far better. However, after few days into the New Year, Gambhir announced on Twitter that he will not join politics.
Gambhir made his international debut for India in April 2003 in an ODI against Bangladesh and further played 147 ODIs for the side. The left-handed batsman also played 58 Tests in which he scored nine tons and 22 fifties. He has played all varieties of the game including domestic cricket for Delhi, captained Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League. Under Gambhir’s captaincy, the Kolkata Knight Riders won their IPL title in 2012 and again in 2014.
Gambhir is the only Indian and one of four international cricketers to score hundreds in five consecutive Test matches. He is the only Indian batsman to have scored more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series. This shows his keen determination being a cricketer for his country.
Gambhir’s Contribution Of Aam Aadmi Party
On several occasions, he has raised his voice against the handling of the pollution woes in the city by the Delhi government. He slammed the Aam Aadmi Party for not controlling the air pollution in New Delhi. The opening batsman said that the party in power has to take responsibility of the situation in the national capital. He attacked Kejriwal too for his advertisements.
In 2019, he received the Padma Shri from the Government of India, the fourth highest civilian award in India. In 2009, he was the number one ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings. The same year, he was the reciever of the ICC Test Player of the Year award. He was the giftee of the Arjuna Award, India’s second highest sporting award, in 2008 by the President of India. Now, likely to be joining the Lok Sabha elections 2019. However this is not clear that from which seat Gambhir is going to contest the election , may be the suspense will break soon .
