Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir, the hero of 2007 T20 World Cup and ICC World Cup-2011, began his second innings as a politician as he donned the saffron colour by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday. Gambhir’s entry is being seen as a strong contender for  the New Delhi parliamentary seat.

Diminutive southpaw Gambhir who played 58 Test Matches, 147 One-Day- Internationals and 37 T20s for India and captained Kolkata Night Riders and Delhi Daredevils in India Premier League, has been quite vocal after his retirement from international cricket.

“I have done whatever I could for cricket, and this is a platform for me to do something more for the country,” he said, adding that he has been influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his vision.

If party sources are to be believed, Gambhir is likely to get nomination from the New Delhi Constituency, currently represented by noted lawyer Meenakshi Lekhi. Gambhir, a resident of Rajender Nagar in Central Delhi, has been quite active on social media and his recent tweets on Pulwama terror attack drew a lot of attention. Moved by the martyrdom of  CRPF troopers, Gambhir has offered educational support to the children of the martyrs.

“Besides his public image,  37-year-old Gambhir can become a fresh face for BJP as he has been extremely critical of Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister,” said a BJP leader, adding, “Gambhir has been vocal about national and political issues on Twitter over the last few years. Gambhir bagged Padma Shri  award this year for his contribution in the fields of sports.” The opener last played a one-day international for the Indian cricket team in 2013 and his last Test match was in 2016.

He played his last Ranji Trophy match in December 2018, after which he indicated he was open to coaching. Gambhir was a high profile campaigner for Union Minister Arun Jaitley in 2014 in Amritsar district of Punjab.