As Athiya Shetty ties the knot with KL Rahul, we take a look at the cricketer-actress jodis

Mona

Cinema and cricket are two biggest religions in India, they say. The two worlds often merge together. Athiya Shetty and KL Rahul on Monday joined the long list of actress-cricketer jodis that dot the entertainment scene.

According to the grapevine, they met through a common friend. Several ad campaigns later, they started dating in 2018. The newlywed couple made their relationship Insta official by sharing their sun-kissed pictures and posting sweet nothings only recently.

As the Motichoor Chaknachoor actress and vice-captain of the Indian cricket test team embark on a new journey at father Suniel Shetty’s Khandala bungalow Jahaan, we look back at actresses and sports stars who found love in each other.

• Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma’s love story is the stuff dreams are made of. Both from middle-class families, caught the public eye in 2008 – she as an actress in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi opposite Shah Rukh Khan and he as One Day International player. The duo, better known as Virushka, met for an ad shoot and hit it off. The public display of love came in 2015 when Virat flew a kiss from his bat to Anushka in stands as he hit half a ton and became the quickest batsman to score 6,000 runs in ODIs. Their love story culminated in a dreamy wedding at a countryside resort in Tuscany in December 2017. The Sufi song Peer Vi Tu, sung by Harshadeep Kaur and Mohan Kannan, was specially created for Virushka’s wedding video. The couple is blessed with a daughter, Vamika, whom they have kept away from the limelight!

• Cricketer Yuvraj Singh and Hazel Keech make for another lovely story. The British actress and model kept the debonair cricketer waiting for three years before agreeing for a coffee date. While she has little love for the gentleman’s game, her love for Yuvi culminated in the two tying the knot in 2016. They welcomed their first child, a boy, Orion, in January 2022.

• Serbian dancer, model and actress Nataša Stankovic met cricketer Hardik Pandya at a night club in Mumbai. She had no idea about his cricket career. Post a brief courtship, Pandya proposed to DJ Waley Babu actress on a private boat on January 1, 2022. They welcomed a son, Agastya, later that year.

• Preeti Sabarwal of Chak De! India!, Sagarika Ghatge found love in cricketer Zaheer Khan. Sagarika, a national-level hockey player, belongs to a royal family and met her beau at a Bollywood party. They made it official at Yuvraj and Hazel’s wedding in 2016. Reportedly, Khan introduced Sagrika by making his family watch Chak De! India! and his fluent Marathi won him Ghatke’s family’s love and blessings. The duo got married in 2017.
• Harbhajan Singh and actress Geeta Basra dated for eight years before they married in 2015 at a Gurudwara near Jalandhar. Just like his teammate Yuvraj, even Harbhajan had to wait long to win his ladylove’s attention. He fell in love at first sight when he saw her in the song Woh Ajnabee. The couple is blessed with a daughter Hinaya Heer Plaha and a son, Jovan Veer Singh Plaha.

Actress-sportsman pairs make for a rather long list…

• Mere Sapnon Ki Rani Sharmila Tagore married the Nawab of Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan, who was the captain of Indian cricket team in 70s.
• Badhaai Ho actress Neena Gupta had an affair with West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards with whom she has a daughter, Masaba Gupta.
• Actress Reena Roy was married to Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan. They split later on.
• Actress Sangeeta Bijlani was married to former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin. They later divorced.
• Actress Lara Dutta is married to tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi.

Such pairings are not restricted to India alone

• English footballer David Beckham is married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham since 1999.
• Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen fell for American football quarterback Tom Brady and they tied the knot.
• Closer home, Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan was married to English screenwriter, television, film producer Jemima Goldsmith for almost a decade. The duo later separated.
• Actress Elizabeth Hurley and Australian cricketer Shane Warne had a whirlpool romance which culminated in marriage.
• Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias is married to Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova.