4 cricketers who harboured dreams of playing football

MS Dhoni donning the wicketkeeper's gloves
MS Dhoni donning the goalkeeper's gloves

Not everyone does or is able to do what he or she plans or wants to do in their lives for a living, so soon they change their paths or are made to change their paths due to various reasons. Some even change their favourite sport, or the sport they are born to play.

We have witnessed plenty of star athletes who have gone on to represent multiple sports, including some of our top Indian stars. Two female cricketers also feature on this list.

Here are some players who are cricketers by profession but still carry a heart for football.

#1 MS Dhoni

Our very own ex-Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a cricketing legend but has his love for football in his own way.

Back in the day, he was initially selected for district and club levels for football and used to play as a goalkeeper. Keeping all this in mind, his football coach sent him for cricket and soon he did an impressive job as a wicket-keeper.

He was quite astonished by his own skills and soon joined the Commando Cricket Club and since then has been picked by various tournaments to represent cricket. The rest, as they say, is history.

#2 Diana Baig

Baig playing football
Baig playing football

The young Pakistani player has a dual role; she represents her nation for both football and cricket. She recently represented her country in the World Twenty20 tournament held in India while also practicing for penalty shootouts in football.

A fast bowler and now an accidental footballer, Baig started her career as a cricketer, but soon the football team needed more players in their team, hence she gave it a try and represented the Pakistan National Team in the SAFF Championship which was held in Bahrain.

A defender and a fast bowler, she has rightly done justice to both her games and is a pride for her nation, setting records and a sense of freedom.

#3 Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly playing against East Bengal for Mohammedan Sporting in a charity match
Sourav Ganguly playing against East Bengal for Mohammedan Sporting in a charity match

We all know him as ‘Dada’, a former captain of the Indian cricket team and now the President of the Cricket Association Of Bengal, also had his first love as football.

In his childhood, he used to watch and play football and soon became a proficient football player but had to choose cricket over his first love due to his elder brother being an avid player in the Bengal cricket team who made him join the cricket academy.

This did not stop him from being close to football, so he became the co-owner of the Kolkata-based Atletico de Kolkata in the ISL and is also a legit die-hard fan of Manchester United. Not only this, he remembers his first shot being a football shot, rather than his bat's swing.

#4 Afy Fletcher

Afy Fletcher also harbours football dreams
Afy Fletcher also harbours football dreams

Having made her debut in 2008, right-arm off spinner Afy Fletcher has represented West Indies internationally in 19 ODIs and 8 T20s.

The 29-year-old batswoman has kept her other passion, football, intact and wants to become a football referee. She has also done a course in refereeing, has completed it in 2013, and has adapted a way to juggle between the two sports and tries to give as much time as she can to football as soon she gets time off cricket.

With an immense love for football, her two most favourite teams are Barcelona and Liverpool whom she keenly follows, along with the Premier League and La-Liga.

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Edited by Abhijit Bharali