New Delhi, July 12: Former cricketer-turned-politician Chetan Chauhan was tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Saturday. The 72-year-old's samples were collected a day earlier for testing. According to preliminary reports, he was admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi PGI hospital in Lucknow after being confirmed to have contracted the virus.

The initial reports did not specify whether Chauhan was asymptomatic or had shown mild symptoms. He would remain under observation at the hospital for at least the next 14 days, said reports citing officials. Amitabh Bachchan Tests Positive for COVID-19, Fans Pray for His Speedy Recovery (View Tweets).

Chauhan was a regular member of the Indian cricket team in the 1970s, and had paired up with Sunil Gavaskar to open the batting line-up in a total of 59 innings. He was the first batsman to reach 2,000 international runs without scoring a century.

Chauhan had debuted at the age of 22 against New Zealand in the year 1969. In all, played 40 test matches and seven ODIs. He was also a huge name in domestic cricket, having played Ranji trophies for Maharashtra and Delhi.

After retiring from cricket, Chauhan turned into a full-time politician and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1990 on a BJP ticket. He returned to the political scene of Uttar Pradesh following the 2017 assembly election victory of the saffron party.

The former cricketer was inducted into Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's Cabinet and was assigned as the Minister for Sports and Youth. He was, in 2019, stripped of the charge but retained as a Minister in the state government.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 12, 2020 12:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).