Cricketers in movies: Stars who appeared on the 70 mm screen

Cricketers are multi talented professionals. Apart from playing cricket, cricketers have been known to show interest in other fields as well.Be that painting, music, writing and even, boxing.

Some cricketers on the other hand got attracted to the shine and glamor of movie industry, especially Bollywood.Here are 10 cricketers who tried their luck in Bollywood and TV.

1. Salim Durrani

The tall and handsome Salim Durrani was a mercurial left handed all rounder and was known to hit sixes at the request of the fans.He was the first cricketer to play a lead role in a Hindi movie. He debuted in B.R.Ishara`s Charitra in 1973 opposite Parveen Babi.

Here’s clip of him talking about how he used to hit sixes on demand.

2. Sandeep Patil

Current chief of selection committee Sandeep Patil played the hero in the 1985 romantic caper Kabhie Ajnabi The.Sandeep Patil was paired opposite Poonam Dhillon. The experiment with them was not successful. The movie proved to be a dud at the box office.

Here’s a clip of a song from the movie, feat. Sandeep Patil.

3. Syed Kirmani

Former India wicket keeper Syed Kirmani also acted in the same movie Kabhi Ajnabi the, along with Sandeep Patil. He played the role of a villain, who has a significant fight scene against Sandeep Patil, who was the hero.

Here is another song from the movie.

4. Sunil Gavaskar

The original Indian little master featured in movies in both Hindi and Marathi.

His first encounter with the celluloid came, when he appeared in Savli Premachi, a Marathi film in 1980. After his retirement ,he played himself in a cricket match in Naseeruddin Shah starrer comedy Maalamaal in 1988.

5. Ajay Jadeja

The wonderful and talented allrounder, Ajay Jadeja was one of the main stays of the Indian Team in the 1990s and even captained India in One day matches. His career was cut short by the match fixing saga and the subsequent ban put on him by BCCI.

He appeared in the movie Khel (2003) opposite Celina Jaitley along with Sunil Shetty and Sunny Deol. He played one the leading characters in the movie and did quite a decent job, but the emotional scenes and the song and dance sequences exposed his inexperience. Since then, he has stayed away from the big screen.

Here is a song form the movie Khel.

6. Salil Ankola

Salil Ankola is better known for debuting in the same test match as Sachin Tendulkar vs Pakistan in 1989 . But that turned out to be his one and only test, though he played in quite a few ODIs including the 1996 cricket world cup.

After retiring from cricket, he showed interest in acting and began his TV career with a show called Chahat aur Nafrat.His acting skills were noticed and acted in movie Chura Liya hai Tumne in 2003. He also did movies such as Kurukshetra, Pitaah and popular serials like Sssh..koi hai.

Here is his scene from the movie Chura liya hai tumne.

7. Vinod Kambli

Vinod Kambli, had the cricketing world at his feet when he scored 2 back to back double hundreds in test matches in 1993. But inconsistent form and indiscipline resulted in his test career ending before he turned 25 and his India career in 2000.

He made his way into the movie world in Aanarth,a B-grade flick starring Sunil Shetty in 2002. Despite his colorful performance, the movie tanked at the box office without a clue. Since then, he has only appeared as a cricket pandit on various news shows.

Here is his scene from the movie.

8. Mohsin Khan

The dashing Pakistani opener, Mohsin Khan, is widely considered as one the best players of fast bowling emerging from Asia. He is also the first and only Asian player to score a double century at the Lord`s ground in England.

His good looks and Bollywood connections meant that he appeared in a number of Hindi films in early 1990s. He debuted in J.P.Dutta`s Batwara and went on to do movies like Fateh with Sanjay Dutt, and much acclaimed Saathi in 1991 with Aditya Panscholi and directed by Mahesh Bhatt.

He also married actress Reena Roy.

A song from his 1991 movie Saathi.

9. Kapil Dev

This image is from the movie Iqbal in 2006, in which Kapil plays a selector for the Indian team. He also played a small part in the movie Mujhse Shaadi Karogii in 2004 in the climax.

View the scene here :

10.Yograj Singh

Yograj Singh was an all-rounder who played 1 test and 6 ODIs for India. He is the father of current India player, Yuvraj Singh.

Yograj Singh has been associated with Punjabi films from way back in 1970s and 80s. He has appeared in more then 30 Punjabi films and 10 Hindi films. More recently he appeared in the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, as the coach of Milkha Singh.

Here is a clip from one of his Punjabi films, Jatt Da Punjabi.

11. Andrew Symonds, Graham Gooch, Nasser Hussain, David Gower,Sir Ian Botham

All of the above mentioned players appeared in Akshay Kumar`s 2011 Patiala House, as England Cricket Selectors. Where as Andrew Symonds, Dirk Nannes and others appeared in a final match at the end of film.

Here is a clip from the behind the scenes from the climax shoot of the movie feat. Symonds and other Australian players.

12. Brett Lee, Mutthiah Muralidharan, Graeme Smith and many more

Many players from teams like South African, SriLanka, Australia featured in cricket matches in Harman Baweja`s 2008 film Victory.Indian players like Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, R.P.Singh played the part of Harman`s teammates.

Some of the international players who participated in the movie were Brett Lee, Mutthiah Muralidharan, Chaminda Vaas, Simon Katich, Greame Smith, A.B.DeVilliers.

Here is the trailer of the movie feat. some of the cricketers.

Bonus: Yuvraj Singh

Yuvi used to work as a child actor in Punjabi films along with his father Yograj Singh. He acted in quite a few films before quitting them for cricket.

Here is a short clip of him in one the films.