Published: Mar 16, 2017, 01:53 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 16, 2017, 01:53 PM (IST)
Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has been sworn in as a cabinet member in Punjab under new Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Sidhu took oath under the watch of Punjab Governor VP Badnore. It was speculated that Sidhu will be handed the post of the Deputy Chief Minister, but that has not happened. Sidhu, former member of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), joined Congress in January this year and won the Amritsar East seat in the elections by a margin of more than 2,400 votes. Sidhu has, in the past, served as the Member of Parliament (MP) from Amritsar in 2004, 2007 and 2009 when he was a member of the BJP. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha – the upper house in the Indian Parliament – by current Prime Minister Narendra Modi. READ: 7 instances when commentators got a bit too carried away
Sidhu’s cricketing career spanned for over 19 years, ever since he made his First-Class debut in 1981-82. He broke into the Indian team in 1983-84. He went on to play 51 Tests and 136 One-Day Internationals (ODI) for India. At the Test level, Sidhu scored 3,202 at 42.13, which included nine tons and 15 fifties. However, at the ODI level, he managed to score 4,413 runs at an average of 37.08, scoring 6 centuries and 33 half-centuries.
He made his ODI debut against Australia in the 1987 World Cup, where he scored 73 in a losing cause. He scored three more fifties in the tournament, thereby becoming one of India’s best players. After his retirement he turned to commentary and is a permanent judge of the comedy show called The Kapil Sharma Show.
