Chetan Chauhan represented India in 40 Tests and also served the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) in various capacities

Former India cricketer and a Cabinet Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government Chetan Chauhan passed away on Sunday of Covid-19 related complications, his younger brother Pushpendra Chauhan confirmed to PTI. Chauhan is the second Uttar Pradesh minister after Kamal Rani Varun, who held the Technical Education portfolio, to have succumbed to Covid-19.

Chauhan, who held the Sainik Welfare, Home Guards, PRD, Civil Security portfolios in the Yogi Adityanath government, was admitted at the Sanjay Gandhi PGI Hospital in Lucknow after testing Covid-19 positive on July 12. On Saturday, Chauhan’s condition worsened after he had a kidney failure and was put on life support.

Chauhan represented India in 40 Tests and served the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) in various capacities (File)

A flamboyant cricketer and Sunil Gavaskar’s longest serving opening partner in the 1970s, Chauhan represented India in 40 Tests and served the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) in various capacities — president, vice-president, secretary and chief selector.

He scored 3022 runs with Gavaskar in their 59 opening stands, ten of which were over 100. He scored 2084 runs in his career. He also played seven ODIs.

Chauhan was the first player in Test history to score more than 2000 runs without a hundred. He was a heavy scorer of runs in domestic cricket. In international cricket, he had built a reputation of being a gritty fighter.

Chauhan was in the eye of a storm after he was appointed as the chairman of the National Institute of Fashion Technology in June 2016, with political parties and fashion designers questioning the decision of the government. However, he held the position for only a year and was replaced after he was made the Sports Minister in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh.