Relationship between cricket and Bollywood goes back a long way. Exchange between the two has taken place often; be it actors buying teams during IPL or cricketers marrying Bollywood beauties. M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story , which will hit the silver screens this Friday, sees television-turned-film actor Sushant Singh Rajput stepping in the shoes of Dhoni. But several cricketers themselves have taken the leap and tried their hand at acting. Here’s a look at a few cricketers who’ve acted in Bollywood films:
Brett Lee
The Australian cricketer made his debut in the romantic comedy Unindian directed by Anupam Sharma. Playing the lead in the film, Lee can be seen wooing a simple Indian girl Meera (Tannishtha Chatterjee) in Sydney against the wishes of her Indian parents.
Sandeep Patil
The former cricketer, known to be a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, starred in the movie Kabhi Ajnabi The with Poonam Dhillon and Debashree Roy at the twilight of his sports career. The 1985 film was the only movie Patil acted in.
Mohsin Khan
The first Pakistani cricketer to make a double-hundred in a test at Lord’s, Khan moved to Mumbai to dabble in movies. He debuted with J.P. Dutta’s Batwara (1989) and later went on to star in movies such as Saathi (1991), Fateh (1991) and Madam X (1994).
Ajay Jadeja
This Jamnagar-born cricketer quit the field and joined Bollywood after being banned for five years for match-fixing. He made his debut with Khel (2003) with Sunny Deol and Suneil Shetty. He also acted in the 2009 movie, Pal Pal Dil Ke Saath and made a cameo in Abhishek Kapoor’s film Kai Po Che! (2013).
S. Sreesanth
After dabbling in politics in the recently concluded assembly elections in Kerala, the cricketer is now eyeing the big screen. Sreesanth who was banned for life from playing cricket by the BCCI, will make his Bollywood debut in Pooja Bhatt’s film Cabaret , where he will be playing a negative character.
Kapil Dev
The former Indian captain made cameo appearances in the films like Iqbal (2005) and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004)
Vinod Kambli
The former cricketer, who played a middle order batsman for team India, made his Bollywood debut with 2002 film Annarth starring Sanjay Dutt and Sunil Shetty. He also acted in Pal Pal Dil Ke Ssaat (2009) and Bettanagere (2015).
