In India, cricket and movies are two of the favourite pastimes of her citizens and Indians cannot live without these two. There are several Indian films as well that centered around the game of cricket and some cricketers have tried their luck in movies as well. So, it won’t be wrong to say that cricket and movies are intertwined with each other. There have been several stories regarding the courtship between cricketers and actors as well that ended up in official alliances. So, here are some popular “jodis” who after a brief spell of dating ended up marrying each other.
Read More: Delicacies Our Favourite Sports Personalities Can’t Simply Resist
Virat and Anushka
“Virushka” as they are popularly known, were always in the news due to their growing companionship. The couple met during an Ad shoot in 2013 and since then the rumour mills were busy linking each other. After several years of juicy gossips and break-up rumours, Virat and Anushka finally made their relationship official in 2017, following their hush-hush marriage in Italy, which was strictly a family affair. Currently, they are one of the most loved and celebrated couples in the country.
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore
They happened to be the unlikeliest of the couple as she was a popular Bollywood actor with no ties to cricket and he was an exceptional cricketer with no inclination or interest towards Hindi films. As they say “the opposites attract”, Pataudi and Sharmila became inseparable over time. She was spotted at spectator’s gallery during several matches and there was also a joke during the rounds that with Sharmila at the stadium, Pataudi won’t last too long at the pitch as a batsman, alluding to the cricketer’s poor form. In the December of 1969, the couple turned husband and wife and their union continued till Pataudi left for his heavenly abode in 2011.
Mohammed Azharuddin and Sangeeta Bijlani
The then Indian captain was a much married man when he met an upcoming actress Sangeeta Bijlani during the shoot of a commercial in the latter part of the 1990s. The media went hammer and tongs about the affair afterward which hampered Azhar’s personal and private lives. Finally, the cricketer threw in the towel and got hitched to the model-turned-actress in November 1996 after divorcing his first wife Naureen. However, unlike the conventional love stories in the tinsel town this fairytale did not have a happy ending as the couple parted ways in 2010 after 14 years of marriage.
Harbhajan Singh and Geeta Basra
The “Turbanator”, the pseudonym given to the offie by the Oz media, used to be a vital cog in the Indian cricket team between 2001 to 2012 and she was a young actress trying to make it big in Bollywood. Tongues started to wag when the duo was spotted at parties and other private spaces but neither of them confirmed or denied their relationship. In fact, SRK had jokingly linked the couple during a cricket-based stage show as well. However, putting all speculations to an end Harbhajan or Bhajji finally tied the knot with Geeta in October 2015.
Yuvraj Singh and Hazel Keech
Yuvraj was a hero on the field and off the field as well, his fight against lung cancer was as brilliant as those sixes he hit against Stuart Broad in the T-20 World Cup. Blessed with a strong physique and good looks, his name got attached to several top actresses as well, which earned him the tag of Casanova as well. After several unsuccessful affairs, the cricketer finally met Hazel, a small-time actress, at a party and instantly fell hook, line and sinker for her. However, nobody was aware of this lovely bond till the couple got hitched in November 2016.
Zaheer Khan and Sagarika Ghatke
This love story was kept under the wraps for a long time and there were no hints about the same in the media as well. Zaheer Khan used to be the mainstay of the Indian bowling attack, especially after the retirement of the veteran pacer Javagal Srinath, for over a decade. She was a national-level hockey player before venturing into acting and one of her notable performances was in the 2007 sports drama “Chak De! India”. It seems they were an item before making their relationship status official with the announcement of marriage in 2017. This took everyone by surprise, even the media, which had no inkling, whatsoever, regarding the budding romance.
Images Credit: Social Media
