Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday. His entry into the ruling party came three months after he categorically rejected rumours about him joining politics.

Gambhir joined the party in the presence of Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi. The Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 11. There is speculation that Gambhir will be given a seat to contest from.

Gambhir said he had been “influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his vision”, ANI reported. “I’ve done whatever I could for cricket, and this is a fabulous platform for me to do something more for the country,” he said.

The 37-year-old 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 has been vocal about national and political issues on Twitter over the last few years. He was honoured with the Padma Shri this year.

In December, Gambhir had said: “One thing which excites me is action and I am sure action is not about sitting in those A/C rooms doing commentary and stuff. I don’t know if I am going to be as good a coach as I have been a player. I will have to evaluate whether I can be successful as a coach.”