For decades now, cricket and cinema lovers have been witness to how Bollywood stars have always had an irresistible lure for cricket players and vice versa. It is perhaps the immense fame, glamour and talent that personalities from both the fields have in common, and lead to such a strong attraction between the two. Now that it is out-in-the-open that Bollywood-cricket’s power couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma are to tie the knot, we look at what is up and take a trip down memory lane as well.
According to reports, the wedding is to be at a place called Borgo Finocchieto – a historic property in Tuscany in Southern Italy. It is famous for being the vacation destination of the Obamas, as well as a destination for weddings of the rich and famous.
The report that Bollywood-Cricket’s most high profile romance was to culminate in an Italian destination wedding from 9th to 12th December has been denied by Anushka Sharma’s spokesperson. Neither Virat Kohli nor Anushka have themselves confirmed news of the impending nuptials. While the news will remain ambiguous till confirmed reports arrive, let us take a look at some of the famous Bollywood-Cricket romances in the past.
He was the hottest cricketer in the world at the time; she was India's hottest star. It was perhaps inevitable that all that hotness would coalesce into an affair around the 70’s and 80’s, when the Pakistani cricket team toured India frequently and extensively.
They met, fell in love, married and later separated as well. She even quit films for him and the two have a daughter called Jannat AKA Sanam.
It was quite a scandal at the time that they married in 1996 because Azharuddin was already married with two sons. When the couple separated in 2010 after 14 years of marriage, rumours were rife that badminton player Jwala Gutta was somehow involved in the equation.
This is one of the most interesting and modern of Bollywood-Cricket relationships. It was a brief relationship between the married Vivian Richard and the beautiful Neena Gupta that caused a sensation at the time; mostly because Gupta chose to continue with her pregnancy as an unwed mother! Today their daughter Masaba is a successful fashion designer.
Again, this was a scandal of its time because Sourav Ganguly was married to Dona Ganguly. When rumours of his link with southern star Nagma surfaced in 2001, there had been reports of the two visiting a temple to perform a pooja meant for married couples.
He was part of the team’s pace attack and she is best remembered for her role in Chak De! India and is also known to be a national level athlete. They got hitched in November this year – it was the quintessential big fat Indian wedding!
The wedding was one of the most high profile ones – Yuvraj being one of India’s longest standing cricket stars and a cancer survivor to boot; Hazel Keech a British-Mauritanian model who been a part of various films, TV ads and programs.
Harbhajan Singh, India’s ‘turbanator’ tied the knot with actor Geeta Basra; the two now have a daughter. It would seem that Bollywood-Cricket romances are just meant to be.
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