Cricketers who failed at the Bollywood box office

New Delhi: Bollywood has seen several Indian cricketers, adorned by millions of fans, vying for the silver screen space, but their forays ended in disasters. While a few of them did generate some pre-release curiosity, most of them failed to create any impact once the films were released. Salim Durani Salim Durani was the first Indian cricketer to try to cash in on his handsome looks and popularity.He appeared in a film, Charitra, opposite Parveen Babi in 1973, which was Parveen's debut film too. Despite Parveen Babi's beauty, Durani failed to generate the same charisma on the silver screen. The film was a super duper flop!Sunil GavaskarThe legend of cricketing world Sunil Gavaskar, who mesmerised cricket fans all over the world with his exceptional batting talent, also tried his luck in another glamour world, but failed miserably. Gavaskar first debuted in a Marathi film called Savli Premachi, which was a disaster at the box-office. Not one to be bogged down by failure, he tried his hand again in a Hindi film called Malamaal alongside Naseeruddin Shah. The film wasn't a complete wash-out. Sandeep PatilSandeep Patil, probably one of the most good looking Indian cricketers, too was tempted by Bollywood glamour. He made his debut in 1985 in the movie Kabhi Ajnabi The with Poonam Dhillon and Debashree Roy. But the result was the same. Salil AnkolaSalil Ankola, a handsome cricketer who played for India but only in one single test match and few ODIs appeared in a handful of films like the Sanjay Dutt starrer Kurukshetra, Pitaah and even Zayed Khan's debut film Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne, but disappeared from Bollywood field soon as he disappeared from the cricket field. Ajay JadejaA charming cricketer Ajay Jadeja had a good career going for him until he got embroiled in the match-fixing controversy. The all-rounder decided to put his good looks to use and try his hand at acting. He debuted in Khel alongside Suneil Shetty, Celina Jaitley and Sunny Deol. The movie sank without a trace.Vinod KambliVinod Kambli, after his not so impressive performance on the cricket field, did not impresse many when they heard that he was planning to star in a Bollywood movie. In fact, many even warned him but Kambli went ahead and starred in a B-grade masala film called Annarth alongside Suneil Shetty and Preeti Jhangiani.Despite massive following on the cricket field, these popular cricketers unfortunately failed to make their mark in Bollywood. In the reverse direction, Bollywood stars like Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty are still managing to attract their fans to the cricket arena by running IPL franchises.