Mohammad Kaif to contest Lok Sabha polls on Congress ticket

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif will contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh's Phulpur constituency on a Congress ticket. The Phulpur constituency comprises one of the 80 parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh. It also produced India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Allahabad-born 2002 Natwest Trophy star is one of the 194 Lok Sabha candidates whose names were released by the Congress Party  on Saturday. Kaif follows former India skipper Mohd Azharuddin, who won the Moradabad seat in 2009 on a Congress ticket, which also falls in the same state.

Kaif, who led India to its first Under-19 World Cup trophy in 2000, played his last international tie eight years ago against South Africa in an ODI in 2006 after which he lost his spot in the national side. Although he may not have set the domestic scene on fire since then, he has continued to play a senior statesman role for Uttar Pradesh in domestic tournaments. Kaif was vital to UP's cause in their 2005-06 victorious Ranji Trophy campaign after which his side ended runners-up twice in-a-row from 2007-09.

The thinly-built 33-year-old is married to Pooja, a Noida based journalist. Kaif, part of the India's 2003 World Cup runner-up team, has 624 career runs in 13 Tests to go along with his 2753 runs in 125 ODIs.