As Dinesh Mongia's political innings begins - a look at his cricket career

Former team India cricketer Dinesh Mongia today began his political innings - joining Bharatiya Janata Party, ahead of polls in his native state Punjab. Mongia, 44, joined the ruling party at the Centre at a function in Delhi in the presence of BJP's state in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Dinesh Mongia joined BJP today.

Former team India cricketer Dinesh Mongia today began his political innings - joining Bharatiya Janata Party, ahead of polls in his native state Punjab. Mongia, 44, joined the ruling party at the Centre at a function in Delhi in the presence of BJP's Punjab unit in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. A confident Mongia said that he aims to serve the people Punjab and that "there's is no other party that can work better than the BJP for the development of the country".

As Mongia embarks on a new journey, here's a look at his cricket career:

Dinesh Mongia had made his ODI debut in 2001. In ODIs, the left-handed batsman scored a total of 1,230 runs at an average of 27.95. His last match was against Bangladesh on 12 May, 2007. His only hundred came against Zimbabwe in 2002 with a swashbuckling 159-run knock. Most importantly, he was a part of India's squad in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, where India lost to Australia in the final. As far as his List A career is concerned, Mongia scored 5,535 runs at an average of 35.25.

Among his shining moments in cricket was a series against Zimbabwe in Guwahati in March 2002, when he clocked 159 runs in an innings. He played in 11 matches in the World Cup, but got an opportunity to bat in only six. Mongia represented Punjab in first-class cricket, playing 121 matches which included 21 centuries.

His international career has been limited to 57 ODIs and one T20, he played 121 first-class games for Punjab scoring 8,028 runs at an average of 48.95, with 27 hundreds and 28 fifties.

He later participated in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2007, representing the team ‘Chandigarh Lions’. However, his career was tainted by a match-fixing scandal, when New Zealand opener Lou Vincent — who also played for Chandigarh Lions — accused him of fixing a match during a hearing at a London court. Mongia had denied Vincent’s claims.

The cricketer announced his retirement in 2020.