In a surprising turn of events, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Gautam Gambhir on Saturday (March 2) announced that he has asked party chief JP Nadda to relieve him of political duties.

The former India opener, who represented East Delhi, took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to share this news while also mentioning that he wants to focus on his upcoming cricket commitments.

"I have requested Hon'ble Party President JP Nadda ji to relieve me of my political duties so that I can focus on my upcoming cricket commitments. I sincerely thank Hon'ble PM Narendra Modi for giving me the opportunity to serve the people. Jai Hind," Gambhir wrote.

However, Gautam Gambhir didn't clarify if he is quitting politics. The 42-year-old joined the BJP in March 2019 and since then has become a prominent face of the party in Delhi. He contested and won the East Delhi seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a big margin of 6,95,109 votes.

Gambhir’s latest tweet comes weeks ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and his remark indicates that he will probably not contest this time around.

Ahead of the IPL 2024 season, Gautam Gambhir has joined Kolkata Knight Riders as a mentor. It will be interesting to see if he can produce similar results for the franchise as a mentor as he did in the role of a captain.

Notably, Gambhir led KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. He was associated with Lucknow Super Giants as a mentor in the last couple of seasons.