Meet man who played with Tendulkar, Ganguly, then quit cricket for acting, career got ruined due to…, his name is…
Salil Ankola made his debut for Indian national cricket team against Pakistan in the same match as Sachin Tendulkar. He quit cricket to become an actor, his career got ruined due to alcohol, and then he made a strong comeback as an actor and also, in the world of cricket.
From Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar to Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh, several cricketers have made guest appearances in multiple Bollywood films. But, there has been one former cricketer, who quit the sport and took up acting professionally. He became a TV star, but his Bollywood career never took off. We are talking about Salil Ankola, who made his debut for Indian cricket team against Pakistan in a Test match in 1989. Coincidentally, it was also the first international match of the Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.
Salil Ankola played the 1996 Cricket World Cup
A right-arm fast-medium bowler, Salil Ankola played 20 One Day Internationals from 1989 to 1997, including the 1996 Cricket World Cup hosted by India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. During the entire tournament, he played just one match against Sri Lanka in Delhi. He didn’t get a chance to bat and couldn’t take a wicket in his spell of five overs as Sri Lanka defeated India by 6 wickets. The Arjuna Ranatunga-led team went on to win the 1996 World Cup.
Salil Ankola’s acting career
After repeated dismal performances, Ankola retired from cricket at the age of 28 to pursue acting. He made his acting debut in the TV series Chahat Aur Nafrat in 1997, and then did multiple TV serials in the early 2000s, including Kora Kagaz, Kehta Hai Dil, Vikraal Aur Gabraal, and Rishtey. Salil was even seen in the first season of Bigg Boss in 2006, but was the first contestant to get evicted from the Arshad Warsi-hosted show. He even tried his luck in Bollywood films but all his films, such as Kurukshetra, Pitaah, Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne, and Riwayat flopped at the box office.
In the late 2000s, Salil was left without any offers from either television or films and he turned to alcohol. This not only ruined his professional career, but also saw his 19-year-long marriage ending in divorce in 2011. The sportsperson in him awakened and he got himself admitted to a rehabilitation centre. Ankola bounced back strongly as he famously played Surya Dev in the Colors TV show Karmaphal Daata Shani, which ran for two years from 2016 to 2018.
Salil Ankola’s comeback to cricket
Ankola also returned to cricket as he served as the chief selector of the Mumbai Cricket Association from 2020 to 2021, and from January 2023 to September 2024, he was the selector of the Indian national men’s cricket team. Salil now works as a Marathi commentator in the Indian Premier League.
