Indian media is rife with reports that two-time World Cup winner for India Yusuf Pathan has joined politics and he will contest Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal’s Baharampur constituency.
The announcement about Pathan’s entry into politics was made by Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday.
Pathan now becomes the third player from the 2011 World Cup-winning team to join politics. Pathan’s teammates from the 2011 World Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh have also joined politics.
Yusuf’s younger brother Irfan took to X (Formerly known as Twitter) to wish him.
“Your patience, kindness, help to the needy, and service to people even without an official position can be easily noticed. I am confident that once you step into a political role, you will truly make a difference in the daily lives of people.” he would write.
The Baroda-based cricketer will compete against Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. However, Congress is yet to name candidates for Bengal but Mr Chowdhury is expected to recontest the Lok Sabha seat which represented five times before.
“The Indian National Congress has repeatedly declared its desire to have a respectable seat-sharing agreement with the TMC in West Bengal.” senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
“The Indian National Congress has always maintained that such an agreement has to be finalized through negotiations and not by unilateral announcements. The Indian National Congress has always wanted the INDIA group to fight the BJP together,” he added.
Pathan represented India India in 57 ODIs scoring 810 runs at an average of 27. He also has two tons to his name. In T20 cricket he amassed 236 runs from 22 games at an average of 18.15 and a strike rate of 146.58.
The 41-year-old was part of the T20 World Cup in 2007 and the ODI World Cup winning team in 2011.
In addition to his achievements for the country, Pathan also played crucial for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He would help the franchise with two IPL trophies (2012 and 2014).
In addition to the two Pathan would also be part of the Rajasthan Royals squad which won the inaugural season of IPL in 2008.
