Top 15 World Cup year Weddings of the Cricketers (1996-2015)
Even for people who know only 2 things about the game, 'run' and 'out', the term World Cup results in an awe expression, reviving their patriotism.
World Cup was believed to be an year of celebration not only for the Cricketers to make and break those records but also an auspicious time to shift gears on a personal level. Many Cricketers got married during the year of World Cup, here are a few of them..
1. Mohammad Azharuddin weds Sangeeta Bijlani
The man known for his best wrists and graceful batting style is India's favorite captain of the 90s, Mohammad Azharuddin for his record wins of 103 ODIs as a captain. He first married Naureen, whom he divorced after 9 years of marriage. In 1996, Azharuddin remarried Sangeeta Bijlani who is a model and an actress.
In the 1996 World Cup, India departed from the World Cup as semifinalists. India's diminishing performances raised questions on his captaincy. The experts were busy finding out the reasons and drawbacks of these failures. It was then a wedding news of Azharuddin, marrying Sangeeta surfaced. In some way or the other people of the cricket committee feel that his second marriage had a negative impact on Azharuddin's World Cup performance.
2. Sourav Ganguly weds Dona Roy
Dada, as we call him was known to be India's most successful captains in modern times. The current Joint Secretary of Cricket Association of Bengal, Sourav Ganguly played for the World Cups in the year 1999, 2003 and 2007. It was announced unofficially that on 23rd August, 1996, Ganguly eloped with Dona Roy and married her. In 1997, February, families have arranged for a formal wedding for the couple. Ganguly's ODI career started the same year i.e.1997.
3. Venkatesh Prasad weds Jayanthi
Not many people know that Venkatesh Prasad has 'Bapu' as his surname. Bapu Krishna Rao Venkatesh Prasad, an ex-fast bowler in the Indian squad, was known for his seam bowling. He made his debut in 1996 and was also part of the 1996 World Cup team. In the same year on April 22nd, Venkatesh Prasad got married to Jayanthi, a classical dancer at a temple in Bangalore. His wife Jayanthi is much older than him.
The last World Cup he played was in 1999 and retired in 2005. Currently Prasad is a bowling coach for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
4. Anil Kumble weds Chetana Ramatheerthan
Padmashree Anil Kumble is not only a former Indian cricket test captain but also a leading wicket taker in India. On 1st July, 1999, Kumble married Chetana Ramatheerthan at Bangalore. The wedding was attended by his family members, teammate Venkatesh Prasad and his wife Jayanthi. Kumble arranged a small reception at Le Meridien Hotel with a very limited number of invitees.
In the same year of his marriage, Kumble played for the World Cup where he exhibited a good performance. Almost in every innings of the 1999 World Cup Series, Anil Kumble scored nearly half-centuries to the Indian cricket team and at least 1 or 2 wickets per innings. His last World Cup was in 2007 and retired in 2010.
5. Javagal Srinath weds Jyothsna
India's frontline fast bowler and current ICC match referee, Javagal Srinath, is the only Indian fast bowler to have taken more than 300 wickets in ODIs.
In 1999, Srinath married Jyothsna in Bangalore but later divorced her. Only in 1999 World Cup series he owned 11 wickets. Srinath is the highest wicket taker for India across World Cups. So, no newly wed effect was imposed on his World Cup Play. Javagal Srinath got remarried to Madhavi Patravali, a journalist on December 13th, 2007 at a bungalow in Mangalore. The wedding was attended by his close friends Dravid and Anil Kumble. Nothing much info on the wedding as the families and friends remained close-lipped. He played his last World Cup in 2003 and then got retired.
6. Rahul Dravid weds Vijetha Pendharkar
Former Captain of India, Rahul Dravid, was hailed as "The Wall" for his tremendous match winning performances. He married a surgeon from Nagpur, Vijetha Pendharkar on May 4th, 2003 at Yelahanka, Bangalore. It was a Maharashtrian theme of wedding attended by close family and friends like Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad. Reception was also held at Taj West End Hotel.
In the World Cup of his wedding year 2003, Rahul Dravid showed a very good play by scoring 318 runs at 63.6 overs. This was a huge success in the career of Dravid. He last played the World Cup in the year 2007 and then retired.
7. Andrew Flintoff weds Rachel
ICC player of the year 2005 award winner, Freddie, is a former cricketer of England. Freddie is not only a good cricketer but also a Professional Boxer. Freddie got married to a business woman, Rachel on 3rd March, 2003 in London. In the 2003 World Cup, Flintoff contributed both with the bat and the bowl. His excellent bowling style made the team England win over Pakistan by 112 runs. His wedding had a very good impact on his performance. He also performed an excellent play in 2007 World Cup and then retired from his career.
8. Kevin Pietersen weds Jessica Taylor
Kevin played World Cups in the year 2007 and 2011 by giving out a good performance. Kevin stood as the first World Cup century maker from England team since 1996 against Australia. In the final match of the World Cup, Pietersen scored 100 runs from 91 balls against West Indies. He was not officially retired but suspended by ECB.
9. Alastair Cook weds Alice Hunt
Alastair, an England test team captain and former ODI captain, married his model girlfriend Alice Hunt on the New Year's Eve of 2011 at Stewkley Methodist Church in Buckinghamshire. Alice is a farmer's daughter. There were around 225 invited guests at the wedding.
In 2011, Cook played World Cup for the team England. The team got defeated in the quarter finals itself.
10. Mitchell Johnson weds Jessica Bratich
In the very same year of Mitchell's marriage, he played for the World Cup where an excellent performance was shown by obtaining 7 wickets in 57.3 overs at an average of 4-19. He is also a part of the 2015 World Cup.
11. Jean Paul Duminy weds Sue Erasmus
Duminy played for the 2011 year World Cup, his performance was overall good. In one of the 2011 World Cup innings, Duminy scored 99 runs against Ireland. He grabbed a chance to play for the year 2015 World Cup.
12. Graeme Smith weds Morgan Deane
Smith is a former captain and an opening batsman for the South African cricket team. He married
an Irish model and a famous singer Morgan Deane on 8th August, 2011 at St.Bernard Catholic Church in Claremont. The church was beautifully decorated with Arum Lilies in a black Bentley sporting a white ribbon. Friends and families of the bride flew in from Ireland for the wedding. The couple arranged a reception at Cape Town.
In the very same year of Graeme's wedding, he played World Cup for the South African team. He exhibited a good performance in spite of his busy wedding engagements.
13. Gautam Gambhir weds Natasha Jain
The left hand opening Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir is currently playing for Kolkatta Knight riders. In 2009, he was ranked as the no.1 batsman in the ICC rankings. On 28th October, 2011, he got married to a Delhi based girl Natasha Jain at Westend Farm on the Delhi-Gurgaon road. The couple's families along with team mates Virendra Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Juhi Chawla and her husband Jai Mehta, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, politicians -Rajiv Shukla and Arun Jaitley were present at the wedding.
Gautam requested to excuse him from T20 match which was held on October 29th, 2011, exactly a day after his wedding. He played in the World Cup for team India which was held in the same year. Wedding had a positive effect and he scored 97 runs for team India from 122 balls with 9 fours and India won the World Cup. This year in the 2015 World Cup, we will surely miss him.
14. Ravichandran Ashwin weds Prithi Narayanan
India's off-spinner and the fastest Indian bowler to take 50 wickets and 100 wickets in Test cricket. Ashwin married his childhood friend Prithi Narayanan on November 13th, 2011 at Raghavendra Kalyana mandapam in Chennai. Reception was held on November 12th in Chennai which was attended by his Tamil Nadu team mates, friends and family members.
Even though India won the World Cup in the year 2011, Ravichandran showed an average performance. In 2015, he will play World Cup for team India.
15. Imran Khan weds Reham Khan
"Sportsman of the century" award winner, Pakistan's most successful cricket captain, Imran Khan, led his country to win the 1992 World Cup. He got remarried to a BBC weather girl, Ms.Reham Khan, a divorced mother of three children on January 8th, 2015 at Imran Khan's Bani Gala Bungalow in Pakistan. The family members were neither invited nor attended the wedding. A reception was
held with close friends and families. Imran Khan divorced his first wife Ms.Jemima Goldsmith in 2004.
Imran Khan's last World Cup was in 1992 where he top scored for Pakistan against England and won the World Cup..
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