Bollywood heroes and their love for cricket

The Indian public has two main passions – Bollywood and cricket. No wonder then that a Shahrukh Khan blockbuster and a Sachin Tendulkar century for example, have bought about smiles across the faces of millions in the last two decades. And both of them are considered the biggest role models and youth icons of this country.

Hence, when Bollywood and cricket amalgamate, it is a spectacle for the public and that boosts the Indian economy to a huge extent. Here are some of our Bollywood stars who are or have been involved in some form in the game of cricket –

1) Shahrukh Khan – The Baadshah of Bollywood used to play this sport with as much enthusiasm as hockey during his school days. Sport is his second biggest love after acting and thus it comes as no surprise that he purchased the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in the IPL, which has had mixed results in five years but definitely the most popular in the country. He has many cricketer friends as well, from India, Pakistan and Australia for example who are treated by him when they visit the country.

2) Saif Ali Khan – The Nawab may not have the consistency to be in the top league of Bollywood, but cricket is in his blood. His father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was at one time the youngest ever captain in the history of cricket and also played for England. Saif has been the brand ambassador of Lays Chips in India for almost a decade now as well as Royal Stag, and many of his TV ads are based on cricket.

3) Salman Khan – Salman may have missed out on an opportunity to emulate SRK by buying an IPL team. However, he was the main creator of the Celebrity Cricket League which involves Bollywood celebrities divided in several teams from across the country, playing T20 matches against each other.

4) Amitabh Bachchan – Ever since the star of the millennium has joined Facebook, he regularly updates about the performances of the Indian cricket team and passionately follows the IPL every year. He is said to be a big fan of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Chris Gayle in particular.

5) Aamir Khan – Ashutosh Gowarikar’s historic 2001 movie, Lagaan was based on 11 villagers defying all odds to give the ruling British a taste of their own medicine, cricket. Aamir’s role as the rebellious and courageous leader, Bhuvan was of such depth that surely no other actor could have done it better than him. Besides, his friendship with Sachin Tendulkar is well known and was seen cheering India in the semi-final and the final of the victorious 2011 Cricket World Cup campaign.