Gautam Gambhir

Picture Credit: Twitter

Cricketer turned politician Gautam Gambhir has reportedly received death threats from ISIS Kashmir and even approached the Delhi Police on Wednesday morning. Notably, the former India World Cup-winning cricketer is a Member of Parliament from East Delhi from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Police Central Shweta Chauhan has said that the investigation is underway and meanwhile security has been tightened outside Gambhir's residence in the national capital.

Gambhir was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2019. As per his own statement, he received the email allegedly from the said group on Tuesday night which contained threats to him and his family.

Apart from his work as a politician, Gambhir manages to be part of several broadcast channels sharing his views on cricket. He even spoke up about Team India's upcoming Test series against New Zealand and said that Ajinkya Rahane is very fortunate to be still part of the Indian dressing room.

Rahane is pretty fortunate that he’s still part of this side because he’s leading: Gambhir

"I am going to open with Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul (who has now been ruled out) because he opened in England and then probably Shubman Gill will bat at No. 4. Plus, Rahane is pretty fortunate that he’s still part of this side because he’s leading. But again, he’s got another opportunity now, hopefully, he can make that count," Gambhir told Star Sports.

In his last 15 Tests, Rahane has accumulated 644 runs at an average of 24.76. To put things into perspective, Rahane's career batting average has fallen below 40 for the first time since November 2015. With senior batters Virat and Rohit both missing from the Playing XI in the Kanpur Test, a lot will rest on Rahane's shoulders in the batting order.

Meanwhile, Chesteshwar Pujara also backed Ajinkya Rahane to come good in the Test series and added that India's captain for the first Test needs just one good innings from gaining back his form.

"He (Rahane) is a great player, there are times when a player goes through a tough time and that's a part of this game. There can be ups and downs but I feel he is a confident player. He is someone who works hard on his game and I am sure he is just one innings away from gaining back the form," said Pujara in the virtual press conference.