Throwback: When team India played a cricket match alongside Tollywood actors

Cricketers and Film Stars occupy a special place in the hearts of Indians as they receive godly treatment for their contributions in respective fields. The celebrities came forward together on many occasions for a cause. One of the rarest of instances was recorded in September 2003 when the actors of the Telugu film industry (Tollywood) joined hands with the Indian cricket team for being part of a Celebrity Charity Cricket match.

Big names from the Indian team at that time played alongside top Telugu stars to raise funds to cricket in Andhra Pradesh. Indian didn’t have any International commitments after being part of the Bangladesh Tri-series in April. India played the tournament straight after they finished as the runners-up during the World Cup hosted by Africa. Earlier in February, a one-day tournament was held featuring Telugu actors which turned out to be a successful venture for broadcaster ‘MAA’ TV.

They decided to rope in Indian cricketers for higher TRPs through hosting a celebrity cricket match. The much reputed Tollywood actors ‘Megastar’ Chiranjeevi, ‘Victory’ Venkatesh and Akkineni Nagarjuna took part in the cricketing event held on September 7th. The then Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and Chiranjeevi captained each side in the one-day match hosted by Vizag’s Municipal Corporation Stadium. The game was telecasted live on ‘MAA’ TV and also on Jaya TV between 9 AM and 5 PM.

Sachin Tendulkar was the star attraction for Chiranjeevi’s XI which consisted of VVS Laxman, Ambati Rayudu, Sanjay Bangar, Parthiv Patel, Sairaj Bahatule, Heroes Tarun and Srikkanth. On the other hand, Ganguly’s XI was much stronger with the presence of Dinesh Mongia, Vinod Kambli, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Heroes Venkatesh and Nagarjuna. About 25000 turned up to witness the cricket and movie stars coming together for a cause.

What happened in the match?

Ganguly’s XI elected to bat first after winning the toss and posted a mammoth total of 285 in the restricted 38 overs. Ajit Agarkar was the best batsman for Ganguly’s XI as he scored a quick-fire 89 by smashing nine fours and six maximums. Tendulkar made Chiranjeevi rolls his arms at Venkatesh during the first innings. Chiranjeevi’s XI began their chase solidly as Tendulkar scored a quick-fire fifty opening the batting with actor Tarun. Sachin was dismissed by Ramesh Powar which triggered a collapse.

Young Parthiv Patel shared a partnership of 90 runs with Sairaj Bahatule. Though the exact score of Chiranjeevi’s XI was not known, it was Ganguly’s XI which came out on the top. The winner’s trophy was collected by Venkatesh and Nagarjuna on behalf of Sourav who left the venue during the opposition’s chase. The bond between Sachin and Tollywood biggies continued as he co-owned Kerala Blasters team in the Indian Super League along with Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna.