By Weshni Gyadi/Passang Doma Bhutia
Bollywood and cricket has been a ‘lethal combination’ –in terms of glamour, entertainment, romance and also the controversies associated with them. Ever since Mansoor Ali Khan ‘Nawab of Pataudi’ married the then Bollywood heartthrob Sharmila Tagore in the sixties, we have seen many cricketers getting hooked to the Bollywood actresses and the latest to join the bandwagon is Yuvraj Singh, who married model-turned-actress Hazel Keech at the spiritual dera of Baba Ram Singh Ganduan Wale in village Duffera on Sirhind-Chandigarh Road.
Here we bring before you the list of some of the cricketers who married Bollywood actresses or are involved in relationship with them.
Harbhajan Singh and Geeta Basra
India’s off-spinner who became the tormentor for the Australians after leading India to the famous 2001 series win against the ‘Invincibles’, Harbajan Singh, tied knot with his long time girlfriend and actress Geeta Basra in 2015 at his place Jalandhar. Basra has appeared in many movies, including the Emraan Hashmi-starrer Dil Diya Hai in 2006. Her second release, The Train (2007), was also opposite Hashmi.
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore
She was one of the most glamorous divas and the ‘Reigning Queen’ of Bollywood who had many hits under her belt. He was one of the most successful captains of the Indian team. They fell in love are being to ushered the ‘knot of Cricket and Bollywood’. Sharmila is said to have converted to Islam and became Ayesha Sultana to get married to the Nawab of Pataudi on December 27, 1969.
Mohammad Azharuddin and Sangeeta Bijlani
Mohammad Azharuddin was the Indian captain and already a married man with kids when he fell in love with Sangeeta Bijlani. The love story became the talk of the town in the 90s and Azhar finally decided to divorce his wife of eight years, Naureen. The shy Hyderabadi finally married Bijlani, a model-turned-actress who had appeared in movies like Tridev, Yugandhar, Hatimtai, in 1996. However, after being together for over a decade they finally separated.
Mohsin Khan and Reena Roy
This was a love story across the borders where Indian heartthrob of the seventies and early eighties, who acted in movies like Arpan, Asha, Nagin, Kalicharan, fell for Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan and the duo tied knot on April 1 1983. Thereafter, they settled in Karachi. Later, Mohsin even tried to establish a career in film industry but failed. The marriage didn’t last long after martial conflicts, they both separated.
Vivian Richards and Neena Gupta
The love affair between award winning actress Neena Gupta and the legendry West Indies cricketer Sir Vivian Richards drew much attention during that time. Neena Gupta became the first celebrity unwed mother 27 years ago when she gave birth to her daughter Masaba with cricket legend Vivian Richards.
Garfield Sobers and Anju Mahendru
Anju Mahendru and West Indies cricket legend Sir Garfield Sobers were in love in the late 1960's. However, they had to call off their relationship as the actress parent's never agreed to their marriage.
Ravi Shastri and Amrita Singh
Ravi Shatri had become the star cricketer of Indian team after his heroics in Australia where he earned the title ‘Champions of Champions’ and Amrita Singh too was one of the most promising and rising stars of the eighties after making a successful debut against Sunny Deol in Betab. The duo fell in love and publicly confessed their love for each other. They were even said to be engaged to get married but then things went worse and they called it off.
Zaheer Khan and Isha Sharvani
Kisna fame actress Isha Sharvani and India’s best pacer of his time Zaheer Khan were in relationship for eight years. Both of them were open about their relationship but after sometime they called off their relationship. Distance between the two (Zaheer travelling all over the world for matches while Isha being based out of Chennai) was said to be the cause of the split.
Virat Kholi and Anushka Sharma
The new heartthrob of Indian cricket who has lead his team to mnay glorious victories and is presently the India Test team captain, Virat Kohli, is said to be in serious relationship with Bollywood’s most sought after actress Anushka Sharma, who has starred in hits like PK, Sultan and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. The trending couple of present times, the love birds have been supportive of each other in every situation. However, they have no plans to tie knot with each other in the immediate future.
