When we talk about a sport that is quite commonly featured in Bollywood movies, it is none other than cricket. There are numerous movies whose plot revolves around cricket, and there have been movies made on some cricketers’ lives, such as MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, which is a biography of former Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. This movie was a hit, and people who watched it still remember the story and songs.
Popular Bollywood Movies Revolving Around Cricket
MS Dhoni: The Untold Story was not the only movie based on cricket, as we have many other movies where the main plot revolves around cricket. We have biographies on the lives of Indian cricketers like Azhar, which was based on the life of Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar: A Billion Dreams, the name indicates that it was based on the life of the great Sachin Tendulkar, and Shabaash Mithu, based on the life of Mithali Raj. There are fictional movies on cricket such as Iqbal, Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii, Kai Po Che!, Jersey, Lagaan, and others.
Another movie that we missed the name of is 83, which was based on the Indian Men’s team winning the Cricket World Cup in 1983. The sport of cricket, as shown in movies, is different than what it is in real life. The movies are typically 3-4 hours long, so you wouldn’t be able to understand the struggles that cricketers have to face, and we will talk about how movies portray cricket versus how it is in reality.
Cricket and Bollywood movies have gone parallel for many decades, and both are equally popular in India. That’s why we have many cricketer-Bollywood couples like the great Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore, Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Hazel Keech, Zaheer Khan and Sagarika Ghatge, and many others. Not only are there Bollywood and cricket couples, but Bollywood actors are also seen in cricket stadiums when Indian players take the field.
Some cricketers have acted in Bollywood flicks, like the great Kapil Dev, who has acted as himself in many movies. Also, there are movies where cricketers have acted as lead actors, such as Salim Durrani, who acted in Charitra movie released in 1973, and Sandeep Patil, who acted in Kabhi Ajnabi The in 1985, both of whom were popular cricketers of their time.
Cricket in Bollywood versus Cricket in Reality
If you are planning to pick up the sport of cricket only after watching it in Bollywood movies, you need to understand that becoming a cricketer is not the easiest of things. To become a cricketer who earns a spot in the Indian team, one has to be extremely talented, and they have to show their talent time and again. Bollywood directors have to make movies on cricket only because of the popularity of this sport in the country.
You may have seen in movies that players just pick up the sport and don’t have to face any major struggle to become a cricketer, and it is easy to hit bowlers out of the park, or picking up wickets looks easy. All these look easier in Bollywood movies, but in reality, it is not. If cricket is that simple, then everyone would be there, and people would just wager on cricket matches rather than doing other things. They no longer have to rely on Today Cricket Predictions’ section on cricket prediction sites for the latest cricket predictions.
Playing cricket requires energy and tons of effort from the players. As a player, you need to perform consistently to remain in the playing eleven; otherwise, the management will not take much time to look for your replacement. The most difficult format of the cricket sport is the Test match, which lasts for five days, and each team plays two innings within those five days. You have seen the fielding team remain on the field for two to three days, which requires players to be fit both physically and mentally.
This is why most players choose other formats, such as the One Day and T20 format, where they have to remain on the field for a limited number of overs. But if we say which format tests the actual fitness, it is none other than the Test match format. Keep this thing in mind if you are planning to become a cricketer because real cricket is not like a movie, as it demands your 100 percent effort.
Conclusion:
Cricket’s popularity is the reason Bollywood directors make movies whose stories revolve around cricket. This has been done for a long time, and we have talked about Bollywood and Cricket’s association and Bollywood-Cricketer couples in this post. We have discussed cricket in reality versus how it is shown in Bollywood flicks. We hope you liked reading the information provided here. Share your feedback and thoughts in the comments.
