Former Indian cricket team all-rounder Yusuf Pathan will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls from the Baharampur constituency for Trinamool Congress (TMC). TMC announced on Sunday that Pathan will be their candidate for the constituency which is a traditional Congress stronghold and is currently represented by Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Following the announcement, Yusuf’s brother – former India cricketer Irfan Pathan – took to social media to post an emotional message.

“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 @iamyusufpathan,” he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).

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 @iamyusufpathan

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 10, 2024

On his likely face-off against the former India cricketer, Mr Chowdhury said the Trinamool should have sent Mr Pathan to Rajya Sabha if the party wanted to honour him.

“Outsiders were nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Bengal. If Trinamool wanted to honour Yusuf Pathan, it should have sent him to the Rajya Sabha. If Mamata Banerjee had good intentions, she would have asked the (INDIA) alliance to get Yusuf Pathan a seat in Gujarat. But here he is selected as a candidate to polarise the common man and to help the BJP, so that Congress can be defeated,” he said.

The Congress and the Trinamool are together in the INDIA alliance – at least for the optics – though it has not shaped into a seat-sharing strategy in Bengal.

The Trinamool is believed to have offered Baharampur and another seat to the Congress, but decided to go solo as the grand old party pressed for a bigger share of seats.