NEW DELHI — Chetan Chauhan, the former India Test player who was Sunil Gavaskar’s enduring opening partner in the 1970s, died on Sunday following complications due to COVID-19. He was 73 and is survived by wife Sangeeta and son Vinayak. The two-time former Lok Sabha MP was Home Guard minister in Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath’s Cabinet, having served as the state’s sports minister. The BJP leader tested positive for COVID-19 last month and was shifted to a Gurugram hospital after his condition worsened. He was put on was put on ventilator support on Friday, Aug. 14. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly remembered Chauhan fondly, having played for India while Chauhan was team manager. "I am deeply anguished to learn of the passing away of Shri Chetan Chauhan," Ganguly said in a statement. "I have spent so much time with him when he was the Indian Cricket Team’s manager. “Not only was he a tough opening batsman but was a person with a tremendous sense of humor and had a tremendous attachment to Indian cricket. This year needs to be forgotten as it has taken a lot of dear people away. He will always remain with us. May God give strength to his family to overcome this loss." Partab Ramchand, a veteran sports journalist, and someone who had watched Chauhan from close quarters would attest to the batsman’s grit. “I think technique and elegance are slightly overrated when it comes to defining batsmen. Chauhan had his own way of scoring runs. “Had that not been the case, he would not have scored all those runs against some of the best bowling attacks in the world. What defined him were his guts and those brutal cut shots. He was really strong square off the wicket,” he told The Indian Express. Chauhan played for India in 40 Tests and seven ODIs between 1969 and 1981, scoring 2,237 runs. He formed a formidable top-order partnership with Sunil Gavaskar, with the duo combining for 3,127 runs at an average of 54.85 in Tests, including 11 century stands. The highlight was their opening stand of 213 at The Oval in 1979, when Gavaskar"s double century set up a famous win for India. Chauhan, who made his Test debut against New Zealand in 1969 as a 22-year-old, got his first runs off a couple of boundaries. He grew to have a reputation as a doughty batsman. However, he never went on to make a hundred; in fact, only Shane Warne (3,154) has more Test runs than him without a century. He made at least 50 on 16 occasions, though, with a high score of 97 against Australia in Adelaide in 1981. He was prolific in first-class cricket, reaching 11,143 in 179 matches at an average of 40.22, with 21 centuries. After his playing career, Chauhan turned to coaching, and was manager when India won a famous Test victory against Australia in Kolkata in 2001. Chauhan was appointed as Chairman of NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) from June 2016 to June 2017. He was also twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, in 1991 and 1998. As of August 2018, he was minister for youth and sports in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. He was serving as a minister in Uttar Pradesh when he contracted the virus. — Agencies