5 Indian cricketers who were linked with controversies involving Bollywood ft. Rishabh Pant

Cricket and Bollywood have been major sources of entertainment for the people of India for several years now. Individuals from both fraternities have a massive fan base across the country, which has kept them constantly in the limelight.

From paparazzi following them everywhere to fans keeping track of their day-to-day activities on social media, nothing escapes the public eye. This means that a single wrong step could spark a major controversy.

Notably, when cricketers and Bollywood stars cross paths at any point, the occurrences garner considerably more attention. There have been a few instances where controversies featuring people from the two industries have turned into trending topics.

On that note, let's take a look at five such times when Indian cricketers were linked to controversies involving Bollywood.

#1 Sunil Gavaskar

The incident took place during the Indian Premier League in 2020. While commentating during a game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab, Sunil Gavaskar passed a remark which didn't go down too well with Anushka Sharma.

Referring to a viral video of Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma playing cricket at their home, Gavaskar stated that Virat's only batting practice during the COVID-19 lockdown was against Anushka's bowling.

The actress shared an Instagram story, expressing her displeasure over Gavaskar's comments. She labeled the ex-cricketer's remarks as "distasteful".

Screenshot of Anushka Sharma's Instagram story.

Speaking on India Today, Gavaskar clarified that he never blamed Anushka for Virat's failures. He pointed out that he only spoke about what he saw in the couple's video, in which they were seen playing cricket together.

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#2 Rohit Sharma

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma was rumored to be dating actress Sofia Hayat back in the day. While he never publicly acknowledged it, Sofia had shared several tweets describing her relationship with the cricket star.

In a tweet she posted in October 2012, she admitted that she had dated Rohit in the past. However, she mentioned that she wouldn't want to be in a relationship with someone like him again, as she was looking for a "gentleman".

Screenshot of Sofia Hayat's old tweet.

Sofia Hayat's tweet on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

She even dragged Virat Kohli into the controversy, stating that he is better than Rohit Sharma, both on and off the field.

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#3 Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul featured in an episode of the sixth season of Karan Johar's talk show 'Koffee With Karan'. However, there was a lot of outrage among the fans soon after the episode aired.

Hardik was targeted by many for his comments on women and was even accused of objectifying them. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the the two youngsters for several games and they were also asked to donate ₹20 lakh each to charity.

While both players were subjected to a lot of criticism, it was Hardik who received more flak for his comments. The talismanic all-rounder seems to have learnt from his past mistakes and has successfully gotten his career back on track.

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#4 MS Dhoni

The former India captain is one of the most respectable figures in world cricket. However, he too was involved in a controversy after his alleged ex-girlfriend Raai Laxmi revealed that her relationship with the cricket star was like a scar for her.

In an interview in 2014, the actress made several revelations regarding her love life. She mentioned that she believes the relationship to be like a stain that will never go away.

Raai Laxmi stated:

"I’ve begun to believe that my relationship with Dhoni is like a stain or a scar which won't go away for a long time."

She pointed out how people continue to talk about it even after several years of their break up.

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#5 Rishabh Pant

India's keeper-batter and Urvashi Rautela took the internet by storm as they took indirect pot shots at each other on social media. The entire saga started after the actress' interview with Bollywood Hungama.

She revealed how a particular person, whom she referred to as 'RP', waited for several hours in a hotel lobby to meet her when she was in Dehli. A number of fans assumed the person to be Rishabh Pant, as there had been several rumors about their relationship in the past.

Pant posted an Instagram story soon after, in which he slammed the actress without naming her, suggesting how some people lie during interviews for fame and publicity.

He wrote:

"It’s funny how people lie in interviews just for some meager popularity and for hitting headlines. Sad how some people are so thirsty for fame and name. May God bless them. #merapichachorhoBehen #jhutkibhilimithotihai.”

In her response, Urvashi advised the wicketkeeper-batter to focus on cricket instead of making such statements. She wrote on Facebook:

"Chotu bhaiyaa should play bat ball 🏏. Main koyi munni nahi hoon badnam hone with young kiddo darling tere liyee. (Small brother should play bat ball. I am not a munni to be infamous for a young kiddo darling).