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Published 17:29 IST, September 9th 2020

Akshay Kumar names favourite Indian players & its NOT Sachin Tendulkar or Sunil Gavaskar

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar is an ardent sports enthusiast and the actor has time and again expressed his love for cricket on several platforms.

Reported by: Jatin Malu
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One of the most sought-afters actor in Bollywood, Akshay Kumar celebrated his 53rd birthday on Wednesday. Akki, as he is fondly known by many, is one of the fittest actors of the film industry for years now. Akshay Kumar is an ardent sports enthusiast and the actor has time and again expressed his love for cricket on several platforms and was also seen commentating alongside Kapil Dev and Aakash Chopra during India's warm-up game against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. 

ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar birthday: From 'Bell Bottom' to 'Laxmmi Bomb', a list of his upcoming films

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Akshay Kumar picks Virat Kohli over Sachin Tendulkar as his favourite cricketer

In fact, there were also rumours that Akshay Kumar had arranged TV sets on the sets of his movie so that no one misses the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Looking at Akshay Kumar's love and knowledge for cricket, the actor's top three cricketers are Kapil Dev, Madan Lal and Gundappa Vishwanath, which was revealed by Kumar himself in the pre-match show in 2018 on Sony Ten 3. 

ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar birthday: Sonakshi Sinha Wishes Her 'Rowdy Rathore' Co-star With Quirky Pic

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From the current lot, Virat Kohli is Akshay Kumar's favourite cricketer as reported by CricTracker. Surprisingly, Akshay Kumar has never mentioned Sachin Tendulkar in his list of favourite cricketers. Akshay Kumar is known for sharing a strong relationship with several members of the sports fraternity, especially cricketers.

Earlier this year, Harbhajan Singh had shared a picture of himself with Akshay Kumar. In the post, Akshay Kumar and Harbhajan Singh were seen wearing yellow as they smiled towards the camera. Sharing the picture, Harbhajan Singh wrote that he will see the Bollywood actor soon for a cricket match. Kumar is also known to have a good friendship with Yuvraj Singh as well.

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ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar birthday: 'Bellbottom' cast has a delightful birthday gift for the actor

Apart from being a huge cricket fan, Akshay Kumar has also acted in a cricket-based movie 'Patiala House'. It depicted the journey of an England-based cricketer of Indian origin, who was not able to follow his dream of being a cricketer due to his father not wanting him to play for the British. The 'Khiladi Kumar' played the role of a fast bowler in the 2011 released movie. 

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Though Patiala House did not fare well at the box office, such was Akshay Kumar's performance that legendary Australian pacer Glenn McGrath reportedly claimed that he wanted the Indian actor to play him if there was a biopic made on him.

ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar birthday: Cricket's 'Gabbar' Shikhar Dhawan leads sports world's wishes

IMAGE COURTESY: AKSHAY KUMAR INSTAGRAM

17:29 IST, September 9th 2020