New Delhi: If cricket is a religion in India, Bollywood actors too are demi-gods in their own right. Saturday evening at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium brought the two together as cricketers took on actors in a maiden charity football match.
While the true winners of the epic sporting clash were underprivileged children who will benefit from the money raised, the formal victors were cricketers including Virat Kohli (captain), MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh who managed to nudge past (4-3) actors Abhishek Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor - founders of the All Stars Football Club that seeks to help NGO's work to provide a better future to children in the country.
That the Indian cricket team regularly plays football to unwind after its training sessions seemed evident as the All Heart Football Club led 4-1 at one stage before the opposition hit back hard.
The team from Bollywood gave a stiff fight to their more athletic counterparts despite trailing by a sizeable margin for most parts of the game. Skipper Bachchan kept the tempo up and pepped up his fellow players. Ranbir soon took over and eventually finished with two goals to his credit. His side - The All Stars - however did run out of steam eventually in front of a large number of fans in the stands. "I was backing the actors since I connect more with films than cricket. In the end though, it has been a superb experience to just see all the celebrities the way I have never seen them," said Swati Romaila, a Delhi University student.
The final hooter gave the match to the cricketers but the final verdict was clear- that while a match can be won or lost and a film can be a hit or a flop, genuine smiles are always the true essence of human life. And this match will surely bring about smiles on the faces of underprivileged children.
Teams:
Actors: Abhishek Bachchan (Captain), Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor, Leander Paes, Dino Morea, Sachin Joshi, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Karan Wahi, Raj Kundra, Marc Robinson, Caesar Golsalves, Ritwik Bhattacharya, Ameet Gaur, Amit Sadh, Romeo Bates, Mazhar Dalvi, Jignesh Antala, Rohan Shreshtha, Nishant Mehra and Jas Bonag.
Cricketers: Virat Kohli (Captain), MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, Harbajan Singh, Ch Pujara, R Jadeja, S Dawan, Murali Vijay, Ishant Sharma, P Ojha, Ajinka Rahane, RP Singh, Harmeet Singh, Manoj Tiwary, Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra.
While the true winners of the epic sporting clash were underprivileged children who will benefit from the money raised, the formal victors were cricketers including Virat Kohli (captain), MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh who managed to nudge past (4-3) actors Abhishek Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor - founders of the All Stars Football Club that seeks to help NGO's work to provide a better future to children in the country.
That the Indian cricket team regularly plays football to unwind after its training sessions seemed evident as the All Heart Football Club led 4-1 at one stage before the opposition hit back hard.
The team from Bollywood gave a stiff fight to their more athletic counterparts despite trailing by a sizeable margin for most parts of the game. Skipper Bachchan kept the tempo up and pepped up his fellow players. Ranbir soon took over and eventually finished with two goals to his credit. His side - The All Stars - however did run out of steam eventually in front of a large number of fans in the stands. "I was backing the actors since I connect more with films than cricket. In the end though, it has been a superb experience to just see all the celebrities the way I have never seen them," said Swati Romaila, a Delhi University student.
The final hooter gave the match to the cricketers but the final verdict was clear- that while a match can be won or lost and a film can be a hit or a flop, genuine smiles are always the true essence of human life. And this match will surely bring about smiles on the faces of underprivileged children.
Teams:
Actors: Abhishek Bachchan (Captain), Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor, Leander Paes, Dino Morea, Sachin Joshi, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Karan Wahi, Raj Kundra, Marc Robinson, Caesar Golsalves, Ritwik Bhattacharya, Ameet Gaur, Amit Sadh, Romeo Bates, Mazhar Dalvi, Jignesh Antala, Rohan Shreshtha, Nishant Mehra and Jas Bonag.
Cricketers: Virat Kohli (Captain), MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, Harbajan Singh, Ch Pujara, R Jadeja, S Dawan, Murali Vijay, Ishant Sharma, P Ojha, Ajinka Rahane, RP Singh, Harmeet Singh, Manoj Tiwary, Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra.