The world of Bollywood and Cricket have frequently crossed paths. The reasons can range from movie promotion or buzzing for IPL tournament. Both industries share a mutual admiration. Cricket has become a glamorous sport with its unlimited wealth and massive fan following. We are often bombarded with alleged rumors of Bollywood diva dating a Cricketing star. From legendary Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore’s love affair in the 1960s to the latest Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, cricketers and actresses have been fond of each other.
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While some couples stood the test of time and took their love affairs to the next level, not everyone got it through. Married or not, Bollywood actresses and cricketers’ romantic involvement has always captured the headlines of media. Today we will look into such celebrated couples who embraced the best of both the worlds.
Sharmila Tagore – Tiger Pataudi
It was the most inspiring and glamorous romance of its time between the two worlds. Sharmila was the most talked-about diva of Bollywood and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was the youngest and most successful test captain of India, and also the Nawab of Pataudi.
It was not just about Bollywood-meets-cricket, it was also a union of two religions- Sharmila, a Hindu, changed her religion (and her name to Ayesha Sultana) to marry Mansoor- a Muslim. There was opposition from their families as well. And, as many people at the time said that this marriage would not last too long, they proved everyone wrong!
Amrita Arora – Usman Afzal
Long before the Bollywood actress Amrita Arora tied the knot with Shakeel Ladak, she made the headlines for dating Pakistani-origin Australian cricketer – Usman Afzal. The cricketer was known for having played from the England team in 2001. The duo met at a common friend’s party and fell for each other instantly! He even started making regular appearances on family functions and special occasions. Amrita even made a statement, ‘I’m certain this is the man for me. We’ll make it legal whenever it’s the right time for both of us.’ However, after being together for more than a year, the duo decided to part their ways.
Hazel Keech – Yuvraj Singh
Looks like Yuvraj and Bollywood are certainly a match-made-in-heaven! After being linked-up with Bollywood divas like Deepika Padukone and Kim Sharma, it was rumored that the cricketer was dating another tinsel town actress, Hazel Keech of Salman Khan-starrer Bodyguard fame. This couple, quite often, was spotted partying together and the rumors started when they attended cricketer Harbhajan Singh’s wedding. Soon, Yuvraj popped the question to his lady-love in Bali, and the couple got married on November 30, 2016, in Chandigarh.
Kim Sharma – Yuvraj Singh
Before Hazel impressed him and the two settled down in 2016, it was the beautiful Mohabbatein girl, i.e., Kim Sharma who clean bowled the cricketer. Their relationship was the talk of the town. However, things did not work out for this glam couple and they broke up after a while. Kim got married to businessman Ali Punjani.
Sagarika Ghatge – Zaheer Khan
Almost all of us fell in love with Sagarika Ghatge when we first saw her in Chak De! India. Right after the movie released, not much was heard about what this pretty damsel was up to until we saw her walk-in as a couple with cricketer Zaheer Khan at Yuvraj Singh and Hazel Keech’s wedding. Right after Sagarika and Zaheer were spotted, there were rumors of them dating, which both of them neither denied nor accepted. After hiding the relationship for a while, the two officially announced their engagement on Twitter on April 24, 2017. The couple had a registered marriage on November 23, 2017, followed by other lavish wedding functions.
Isha Sharvani – Zaheer Khan
They shared an 8-year long relationship that stood strong despite ups and downs. And it was quite obvious for them to get married after being together for years. But surprisingly, the duo announced that they are not getting married, but are separating instead! Both parted their ways and later on, cricketer got married to Chak De India fame actress Sagarika Ghatge.
Anushka Sharma – Virat Kohli
One of the most stylish couples of Bollywood-cricket link-up has certainly been Anushka and Virat. After denying their relationship for long to playing hide-and-seek with media and fans, they finally accepted their relationship in 2014. After a while, there were rumors that Virushka was splitting, but thankfully, everything died down when they came together, as a couple to attend Yuvraj and Hazel’s wedding in Goa. Since then, their PDA is more than adorable. Finally, the couple tied the knot in a private destination wedding in Italy on December 11, 2017.
Amrita Singh – Ravi Shastri
It was one of the most-talked-about affairs of the 80s which came into the public eye after Amrita and Ravi posed together for a magazine cover. They were even rumored to be engaged in 1986. But the duo soon realized that they were not meant for each other and were poles apart due to which they decided to separate their ways. This was quite evident when Ravi quoted ‘I definitely don’t want an actress wife. I am chauvinistic. Her home should be her first priority.” To which Amrita had replied, “At the moment I’m too involved in my career to give it up. But I’m sure after a couple of years, I will be ready to become a full-time wife and mother.’
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Geeta Basra – Harbhajan Singh
After being ‘just good friends’ for some time, they finally proclaimed their relationship by getting married on October 29, 2015. Although their relationship went through some ups and downs in the past, the couple has happily settled down and are enjoying marital bliss. On July 27, 2016, Geeta and Bhajji welcomed an adorable little princess and named her Hinaya Heer Plaha.
Neena Gupta – Vivian Richards
Neena Gupta’s love life has been just like a roller coaster ride which is full of ups-downs, twists and turns!! Even though Vivian was already married, these two went on quite strong, but never got married. It is believed that Neena and Richard met at a party in Mumbai. The passion between the two was brimming and within a few months, Neena was pregnant with daughter Masaba Gupta.
Sangeeta Bijlani – Mohammad Azharuddin
Sangeeta, who was climbing the charts of success in Bollywood slowly, met the soft-spoken and dashing Indian captain, Mohammad Azharuddin aka Azhar, in 1996. They fell in love very soon, and he divorced his first wife to marry Sangeeta. She changed her name to Ayesha Azhar. However, their relationship did not work out, and after 14 years of togetherness, the couple separated in 2010.
Nagma – Sourav Ganguly
This is one of the relationships that garnered a lot of media and fan gaze. With media attention starting to take a toll on Sourav’s flourishing career, he ended his love story by marrying his present wife Dona. While Sourav maintained a ‘No Comments’ stance on this personal issue, Nagma went on speaking publicly that there was indeed something on between her and the Prince of Kolkata. The story did not have a happy ending.
Zeenat Aman – Imran Khan
The most dashing Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan and the glam queen of Bollywood, Zeenat Aman, created ripples when they started seeing each other. It was a match made in heaven! However, their affair was short-lived and the two parted ways quite soon.
Sofia Hayat – Rohit Sharma
In 2012, it was Sofia who revealed it through Twitter that she had dated Rohit but it was now over.
Reena Roy – Mohsin Khan
Reena Roy got married to Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan. She quit her filmy career to be with him, but after some time the marriage fell apart. She returned to the film industry, and Mohsin remarried soon after their divorce.
Well, as they say, love knows no boundaries and these beautiful Bollywood-met-cricket love stories prove exactly the same. If we missed out on any name, do let us know in the comments section below.
