Former cricketer Chetan Chauhan, who is a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, was put on ventilator support on Friday night. Chauhan tested positive for COVID-19 in early July.
Chauhan had been admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi PGI Hospital in Lucknow in July. He had not recovered from COVID-19 and developed kidney and blood pressure problems on Friday, following which he was shifted to ventilator.
Chauhan (72) has been a member of the BJP and was a Lok Sabha MP twice. Chauhan holds the portfolios of Sainik Welfare, Home Guards, PRD and Civil Security in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet. Till last year, he served as the sports minister of the state.
Known to be a gritty player, Chauhan played 40 Tests between 1969 and 1978 and scored 2,084 runs at an average of 31.57 with 97 being his highest score. He also played in seven ODIs, scoring 153 runs from them.
Chauhan and Sunil Gavaskar formed a successful opening partnership, scoring over 3,000 runs together with 10 century stands in numerous Tests in the 1970s.
He was a heavy scorer of runs in domestic cricket while playing for Delhi and Maharashtra.
(With inputs from Neeru Bhatia)
