Team stars

As the Celebrity Cricket League heads to Sharjah, Mumbai Heroes captain Sunil Shetty lets us in on his team’s winning ways

SUNIEL SHETTY IS in no mood to joke as he is going all out for a win in the second season of the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL). Batting for the Mumbai Heroes, Sunil Shetty will play with the who’s who of Bollywood in the cricket league starting next month.

“We truly are a celebrity team and there are so many popular faces. We are all playing for the spirit of the game and we are here to win,” said Sunil in an interview with City Times.

He is proud of his team and the latest addition to his team includes Bobby Deol and Dino Morea. The star-studded team makes it a point to practice every evening for three hours and ‘Anna’ is confident of his team’s chances.

“We get all the time to practice because we choose the films we want to do. We are conscious (about the fact that we are) playing the league in January and we shoot less during this period. There is life beyond cinema and being a celebrity - and this is one of the ways we destress and enjoy ourselves,” added the team captain.

“When we are on the field we are cricketers and not actors. It’s about playing serious cricket while spending time with colleagues from other film industries,” said Sunil.

The star player was all smiles as he shared the limelight with Ritesh Deshmukh who is the team’s vice-captain.

Singing praises for his captain, Ritesh said, “Anna is a great captain and he has loads of experience. He holds the team together and working with him helps a lot. All the others are junior to him and we respect him a lot. He also appreciates our opinion and that’s what matters.”

The team will fly down to the UAE for the cricket league’s star-studded inaugural at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on January 13.

muaz@khaleejtimes.com