Here is a list of five Indian cricketers who were allegedly distracted by the B-town divas while they were playing for their team on the cricket field. Read on to know more!
There has always been a long history of the cricketers getting involved with the Bollywood beauties. Not only the Indian cricketers but also the International cricketers were mesmerised by the beautiful divas in Bollywood, cheering and waving from the panel. Many had later, moved on from the fling over a short span of time. On the other, a few couples have also proved such alliances divine and were even successful in tying the knot.
However, here is a curated list of cricketers who were simply extraordinary in their professional careers. And it was when they fell in love with the Bollywood beauties and were reportedly involved in a relationship, the blame for their few bad performances came on the shoulder of these ladies. So without much ado, let's take a look at the five Indian cricketers who were allegedly distracted during their play due to the Bollywood divas.
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Former Indian cricket team captain, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi had met Bollywood's evergreen actress, Sharmila Tagore for the first time in the year 1965 through a mutual friend. Later, they had tied the knot in 1969 in a grand wedding. However, at that time, no player's wife or girlfriend was allowed to accompany the cricketers to the matches. But Sharmila was one such woman who had accompanied her love of life, Mansoor for his England's tournament.
In an interview with the Times of India, Sharmila had once quoted that many cricket fans had blamed her for the cricketers' bad performance in the matches. Sharing the same, she had said:
“On one or two occasions, it was believed that I was somehow responsible for his poor performance. It is believed that if you are an actor or a cricketer from a privileged background, then you're spoilt and an attention seeker.”
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Former Indian international cricketer, Yuvraj Singh is known for his aggressive batting style and all-rounder ability. He had played in almost all formats of the game, and with his huge contribution in the ICC World Cup 2011, India could bring back the glory home after 28 long years. However, apart from this, Yuvi has also been a charmer for his huge female fanbase, and even the B-town beauties were attracted to him.
One such Bollywood actress was Deepika Padukone with whom, Yuvi allegedly had a fling for a short period of time. It was during India's Australia tour in 2008, when the duo was reportedly spotted together. Following this, Yuvi had given a disastrous performance in the test series. And reportedly his huge fanbase had blamed Deepika for his distraction and bad performance. Currently, Yuvi is married to Bollywood actress, Hazel Keech and had embraced parenthood for the first time with the arrival of their son in January 2022.
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Rumours about one more alleged relationship between former Indian team captain, Sourav Ganguly and actress-cum-politician, Nagma was also quite popular in the late 90s. Though Sourav has never denied or accepted the fact, on the other hand, Nagma had once opened up in an interview with DNA. She had revealed:
"Whatever one says, nobody has denied anything. As long as there is no denial of each other's existence in each other's life, any person can say anything they want. There was a career at stake, besides other things, so one had to part. One had to weigh a lot of things, rather than be on an ego trip and insist on being together."
However, time and again, his wife, Dona Ganguly had rubbished all of them and has also mentioned her anger in an interview. She had said:
"I’m extremely angry at the way some newspapers are trying to defame us. It’s unfortunate that Sourav become the victim of such things.”
For the unversed, the Prince of Kolkata had tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart, Dona on February 1, 1997, in a formal wedding. They are also parents to a loving daughter, Sana. The family of three is living a happy life and is often spotted together.
Indian cricketer, Virat Kohli and Bollywood diva, Anushka Sharma are the most adored couple in Tinseltown. However, it was during the semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2015, when the cricketer's huge fan base had gone mad over Anushka and had blamed her for his bad performance. But the duo had not given any ear to those, and even now, Virat and Anushka are spotted exchanging blinks and kisses from the field and VIP lounge, respectively.
For instance, on April 16, 2022, during the IPL match, Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, RCB captain, Virat Kohli had taken a brilliant one-handed flying catch. He had flaunted his victory to his wife, Anushka Sharma, who was standing in the panel. And in return, his doting wife gave him a million-dollar smile. For the unversed, the much-in-love couple had tied the knot on December 11, 2017. Later, they had embraced parenthood for the first time with the arrival of their angel daughter, Vamika, into their lives in 2021.
Former Indian skipper, Mohammad Asaduddin had found love for the second time in the arms of Miss India 1980 title winner, Sangeeta Bijlani. The duo had tied the knot on November 14, 1996, and after 14 years of being in marital bliss, in the year 2000, the duo had got divorced. However, at the beginning of the duo's dating period, Sangeeta was seen accompanying him at one of his matches at the Eden Gardens, during the India-Sri Lanka semi-final, ICC World Cup 1996.
Unfortunately, India had lost that match, and his fans allegedly blamed Sangeeta for Asaduddin's bad performance. Though as per reports, Asaduddin with the board's permission had taken Sangeeta on tour, his team members and huge fans blamed her for the distraction. Former BCCI chief, Madhavrao Scindia had said, "The example set by the captain is disappointing." Manoj Prabhakar had said in an interview with the Indian Express:
"I don't know what exercise he was doing and with whom".
Do you think that the cricketers were distracted by the divas and had poorly performed in the matches? Let us know!
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