Bollywood cricket victory in Yorkshire charity match

June 10, 2007



A cricket team made up of Bollywood celebrities has beaten a Yorkshire opposition in a charity cricket match at Headingley, held as part of the International Indian Film Academy ("IIFA") Weekend in Yorkshire, England, celebrating Indian cinema and its stars.

The "Bolly 11" team, consisting of Indian actors and cricketers, took on the Yorkshire 11 which featured former English cricketers, British TV stars and musicians and two members of Parliament.

Amitabh Bachchan, film legend and IIFA Brand Ambassador inaugurated the event, followed by actor Salman Khan, and Shilpa Shetty who greeted excited fans. Shetty supervised the toss and then conducted a walkabout of the grounds, signing autographs.

The A-list Bolly team was made up of Saif Ali Khan (captain), Arjun Rampal, Dino Moreo, Fardeen Khan, Aftab Shivadasani, Ritesh Deshmukh, Sohail Khan, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Upen Patel, Arbaaz Khan, Vishal Bhardwaj, Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin.

The Yorkshire team displayed the talents of Nick Knowles, Rosalie Birch, Gladstone Small, Devon Malcolm, Jay Sean, Sherwin Campbell, Chris Lewis, Danny McGuire, Harry Gration, Greg Wise, Manish Bhasin, Ajmal Shahzad, Andew Gale, Colin Salmon, Oliver Milburn and MPs Keith Vaz and Shahid Malik.

The match also saw the return to the square of the ever popular and highly respected Yorkshireman, (Harold) "Dickie" Bird, who umpired with Jack Hampshire.

The game was a light-hearted affair with fans and supporters cheering on the players for both teams. The overall mood was festive with Mexican waves, song and dance and Indian and Pakistani flags being waved. In cricketing spirit, banners featuring slogans "Bollywood Team to Win" and "4" filled the Headingley Carnegie Stadium as the game went on.

The IIFA XI won the match after former Indian captain Kapil Dev hit a boundary off the last ball to score the winning runs. The Yorkshire XI had scored 142 in 20 overs. The Bollywood team scored 143.

Other celebrities in attendance were Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu, Govinda, Kabir Bedi, Randhir Kapoor, Rakesh Roshan, and director J.P. Dutta along with Myleene Klass and Brit-Asian female rapper Hard Kaur.

Money raised from the match is to be donated to the IIFA Foundation.