Shikhar Dhawan, Brett Lee, Irfan Pathan: Five cricketers who tried their hand at acting

If there are two things that set pulses racing in India, it’s cinema and cricket. And when the two merge, people become ecstatic. Cricketers are often teamed up with film stars and sometimes this relationship crosses over to reel life, too. It makes good sense too, because it is almost guaranteed that a cricketer acting in films will prove to be a crowd puller as well. Here are five cricketers who have tried a cinematic second innings.

Double XL features a very dapper-looking Shikhar Dhawan dancing with Huma Qureshi. The shot is part of a dream sequence and they wanted a celeb to walk up to Huma and ask her for a dance. Who better than Shikhar Dhawan with his trademark hairstyle and charismatic looks? The audience has already given their verdict for this film, which was recently released on November 4 in theatres.

The cricketer has been dabbling with movies since quite a few years. He was first seen in the film, Victory, in 2009, followed by BhaJi In Problem in 2013. He has also acted in Dikkiloona, which is a 2021 Tamil science fiction comedy film.

Irfan Pathan had once told fellow cricketer Deepak Hooda, “I will do everything in life, I am an all-rounder.” That statement turned out to be true as the dashing Irfan had an impressive role in the Tamil film, Cobra, which released a couple of months ago. The film may have had average reviews, but everyone was all praise for Irfan’s role in the film as a tough Interpol officer. He has done two smaller roles in earlier films as well.

Not many know that web-series actor Angad Bedi and son of former Indian spinner Bishen Singh Bedi once played competitive cricket and was an integral part of the Delhi Under-19 team before he took to full-time modelling and then acting as his choice of career.

Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, had a great career in international cricket and was in the winning World Cup team in 2003. After retiring from cricket, he kept his association with the game alive and kicking as a commentator for Fox Sports. He also tried his hand successfully in films and acted opposite Tannishtha Chatterjee in the Indo-Australian film, UnIndian.