Cricket and Bollywood – A sizzling affair indeed!

Cricket is no more just a sport played to its merit. It has become a source of entertainment for people and it has its glamorous side too, now that T-20 cricket and in particular, the IPL has become a global brand in a span of four years.

However, cricket has its origins of connecting with Bollywood way back in the 60s and it all began with marriages and steamy affairs alike.

Here are some of the well known and some little known love affairs between Cricket and Bollywood.

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore

It was on 27th December 1969 that Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore took wedding vows. Pataudi, also known as ‘Tiger Pataudi’ to many was one of the most respected and to an extent successful Indian captains in those days despite having a background of that of a Nawab who had played in England as well as for India.

While Sharmila Tagore was blossoming into one of the finest actresses of Bollywood and had grabbed headlines for being the first Indian actress to pose in a bikini for a magazine, prior to marriage.

Though the wedding was controversial primarily because Pataudi was Muslim and Tagore was Hindu. Yet, it was a success till a month back when Pataudi expired. They have two children who like their mother, chose to enter Bollywood and are extremely popular actors – Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan.

Vivian Richards and Neena Gupta

Seventeen years later, Masaba Gupta was born who is now a model. She is no ordinary child, she is the love child of famous West Indian batsman Sir Vivian Richards and Indian actress, Neena Gupta.

Vivian Richards had the charm not only when he was batting, but also when he was dating.

The relationship between the two was short-lived and even more controversial than Pataudi-Sharmila’s marriage in the Indian media.

Although Richards and Gupta never married, yet they remain the most memorable Cricket-Bollywood couple of all time.

It was eight months back that these two shared the same venue, for the sake of their daughter’s fashion show.

Mohammad Azharuddin and Sangeeta Bijlani

After India lost the 1996 World Cup semifinal, the now-disgraced Mohammad Azharuddin was going through a rough patch not only in his professional life but also in his personal life.

It is because his first wife decided to divorce him during that period, perhaps due to his affair with former Miss India and actress Sangeeta Bijlani.

Sangeeta Bijlani was famously Bollywood hunk Salman Khan’s flame at one point of time but they broke up. Followed by which, Azhar and Bijlani met and soon got married.

This was another Hindu-Muslim marriage but it was not talked about much by the media who was more concerned of India’s performances on the field which was a rare occurrence in those days!

Azharuddin though was recently accused of cheating his wife by having another affair with a young badminton player, but those rumours have now been quelled.