Cricket and Bollywood go hand-in-hand in India. Both the field draws maximum attention and the people who are associated with them are treated as super humans. Cricket and Bollywood are two prime properties which gets the maximum media attention.
There have been a number of instances where cricketers have tied a know with a film star, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Mohammad Azharuddin got married to Bollywood stars and players from the current Indian squad have also been associated with Bollywood starlets.
The relationship between cricketers and actors is not restricted to marriages; some big names like Shah Rukh Khan and Priety Zinta have their own IPL teams and have a brigade of their well wishers from the industry to support them.
It is not that only Bollywood has taken the cricket field, there have been instances when cricketers have acted in movies; let’s have a look at some of the players who could not resist the glory of a silver screen.
Ajay Jadeja: Jadeja was always in the news for being one of the most stylish cricketers in his time and Bollywood could not keep their hands off him. Jadeja who played close to 200 one day matches for India made his debut in a movie named Khel alongside Sunil Shetty, Celina Jaitley and Sunny Deol. His movie did not do well and the stylish all-rounder has been away from the cinema since then.
Vinod Kambli: The stylish left-handers cricket career was always surrounded by controversies and it did not stop even when Kambli took off his cricketing shoes. The man with two Test matches double hundreds for India was involved in the one of the biggest controversy seen on a cricket field. Everyone still remembers the time when Kambli left the semifinal match against Sri Lanka in tears. Kambli tried his hand in a hindi movie named Annarth alongside Sunil Shetty and his innings in the film industry met an early speed breaker.
Salil Ankola: Ankola can proudly say that his experience with the film and TV industry was better than any other Indian cricketer. He played only one Test and 20 one day international for India and failed as a cricketer. Ankola then moved to Bollywood and featured in movies like Kurukshetra, Pitaah and Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne. He has been doing relatively well in the television industry.
Sunil Gavaskar: He is considered as one of the best batsmen of all time and once had most of the batting records to his name. Despite him being so successful on the cricket field, Gavaskar could not avoid shaking a few legs for Bollywood. He started his acting career with a Marathi film called Savli Premachi and ended it with Hindi film called Malamaal.
Kapil Dev: The world cup winning captain and the greatest India all-rounder has played quite a few small roles in big bollywood movies. Kapli has more often than not played himself on screen and thus has not been as bigger embarrassment as some of his colleagues. He has featured in movies like Stumped, Iqbal, Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii and others.
By Indian Sports News Network
