Bollywood and Cricket are two of the greatest entertainment industries in India. They have been in a friendly relationship with each other for years now. The Advertising Industry uses research data that suggests that primarily Bollywood and Cricket drive the Indian consumer segment and form the most inspirational icons of self-expression for people of all age groups across the country. Here is the list of Top Ten Cricketers who did an advertisement with a Bollywood Actor :
1. Virat Kohli
Kohli earns a fortune from endorsements and bags around 146 crores from advertisements because of his personality and popularity, especially among youth. In 2011, Virat became the brand ambassador of Fastrack and did a series of TV commercials with actress Genelia D’Souza, who is now married to actor Riteish Deshmukh. The campaign received many backlashes due to its boldness, and the case was taken to court. Virat was also in a shampoo ad with Anushka Sharma, and that’s when they first met. Kohli now advertises Manyavar with his wife and recently was seen with Anushka in LUX ad too.
2. Sachin Tendulkar
The King Khan of Bollywood and the King of Cricket first collaborated in 1999 for Pepsi. The ICC Cricket World Cup was being held in England, and back then, Pepsi ads were all the rage. Shahrukh Khan disguised himself as Sachin Tendulkar in the ad until the real Sachin shows up at the end. Six years later, they again came together to promote Airtel.
3. M.S Dhoni
Dhoni has shot numerous commercials with Bollywood actors, still, the top ones include his TVS ad with the Big B of Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan, where they talk about the latest technology of the vehicle. M.S Dhoni once appeared in a hilarious Videocon with Shahrukh Khan too, in the year 2007. One of his recent commercials was with Pankaj Kapur, who is Shahid Kapur’s father for Mastercard.
4. Yuvraj Singh
Xbox was all set to launch in India in 2006; they created the new Xbox 360 specifically for the Indian market and wanted somebody influential. Therefore, the ad featured Yuvraj and Akshay Kumar. The ad starts in a village, with two boys arriving, and is surprised by seeing a young village boy skateboarding over the walls, as a village belle jumps into a well to fetch water.
5. Sourav Ganguly
Sourav and Hrithik were sensations in the early 2000s. Sourav was the captain of the Indian Cricket Team, and Hrithik just became an overnight superstar for his fantastic dancing skills in his debut film. Hero Honda decided to feature these two in an ad together, where their roles have been reversed, and Hrithik is seen playing cricket, while Sourav showed his awkward dance moves.
6. Shikhar Dhawan
At the beginning of the year, Shikhar posted a picture with Parineeti on his Instagram; he captioned the photo as, “Had a super time shooting with you @parineetichopra, Good fun”. The photo was appreciated by fans; later it has been revealed that they were shooting an ad for a juice brand known as Alofruit.
7. KL Rahul
Rahul and his rumored girlfriend Athiya were roped by a French luxury eyewear brand Numi Paris as their brand ambassadors to promote the stylishly handcrafted eyewear collection. The brand director commented his thoughts, “NUMI Paris is extremely lucky to have youth icons like KL Rahul and Athiya Shetty on board.”
8. Suresh Raina
Pepsi is the global sponsor of the ICC World Twenty20, so in 2012 they did an extravagant commercial starring Ranbir Kapoor and Suresh, Dhoni, and Virat. The campaign was to celebrate the youth who is passionate about watching cricket.
9. Harbhajan Singh
Though Harbhajan has not individually been in an ad with an actor, he has been seen in The Muthoot Group advertisement song with other CSK players. The song features Bollywood great Amitabh Bachchan, Harbhajan was batting in the video, and other players were dancing. The video predicts that CSK is going to win the IPL trophy this year. In 2021, Harbhajan is making his Bollywood debut with a film named Friendship.
10. Rohit Sharma
Rohit, Hardik, and Jasprit were seen earlier this year in Jio Fiber ad with Ranveer Singh during the IPL season. The boys are seen working out and talking while Ranveer dances with the product in his hands, and the players’s interest changes as they start grooving to the music later.
