Although cricket is the king in India, numerous leading cricketers of the sub continent also turned out to be dedicated fans of international football. It be it created with inspiration on the superstar athletes or the ones that have been in the stadiums to witness fabulous goals by the famous players, these cricketers have been showing commitment to the clubs to levels much beyond the game of cricket. Let us take a glimpse of five Indian players and their football loyalties
Virat Kohli: Manchester United
The career of Kohli in football started by the adoration of Cristiano Ronaldo, which led to his followship of Manchester United. As Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2009, Kohli did the same and became a fan of the Spanish club giants the most successful club in the history of football.
Rohit Sharma: Real Madrid
Rohit Sharma is another Madridista in the limelight to have sported the legendary white jersey and has frequently been spotted wearing the jersey and rooting his team on with an enthusiasm that could easily be missed. This affection towards the Real is the feature of his out of field character.
La Liga champions Real Madrid presented Indian captain Rohit Sharma with a customised jersey 🔥 pic.twitter.com/gTLf704eUE
— NISHA (@NishaRo45_) April 16, 2024
Shreyas Iyer: Chelsea
A soft spoken and grace client of the cricket field, the football affiliation of Iyer is the Chelsea FC located in London. He made his way to the Stamford Bridge stadium and got in touch with one of the defenders Ben Chilwell who even presented him with a signed Chelsea shirt, a fan moment and a marker of respecting each other.
Clutch Cold Performers 🥶
Shreyas Iyer 🤝 Cole Palmer@PunjabKingsIPL | @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/a4NxjjuK1x
— Premier League India (@PLforIndia) June 2, 2025
MS Dhoni: Manchester United
The football fandom of MS Dhoni can be as legendary as his career as a cricketer. As a child, Dhoni was a Manchester United fan and played as a goalkeeper in school football, this could be viewed as an early sign of his lightning reflexes behind stumps later in his career.
Ms Dhoni × Manchester United ❤️👌 pic.twitter.com/FIk6FGSE5o
— MS DHONI FAN (@msdhoni7781) July 21, 2025
Rishabh Pant: Liverpool
Pant is a charismatic unpredictable figure at the crease and just as a fan of Liverpool football club who remains passionately loyal to his hometown, he brings those emotions to the team game. Passionate of the club, he never misses an opportunity to post in club colours on his social networks.
Record breakers. #IPL2025Auction | @ChelseaFC | @LFC pic.twitter.com/ZTQY2NXByq
— Premier League India (@PLforIndia) November 24, 2024
This kind of crossing over between cricket and football fandom has emphasized the other similarity of sport at large; it crosses boundaries and leaves a mark in the spectators and the sportsmen, both on the admiration of the skill, drama, and a team. Many times when Kohli frenzies over Cristiano Ronaldo or Rohit sports a Real Madrid jersey, it humanizes these cricketing superstars reducing trite boundaries between sports and generating a moment of universal comprehension. The intersection also presents the appreciation of peak performance by the same athletes irrespective of the field of play. Football or cricket require focus, physical presence, accuracy and this echoes with the professional sportsmen such as these five sporting cricketers.
Though India is a cricket obsessed country, its cricketing brands wearing out of league fan affiliations to popular football clubs lends a colorful dimension to their identity. Whether it is club hopping with Ronaldo by Kohli or Chelsea ties by Iyer, the loyalty of each of the players has a story behind it, a story that fans across sports can cheer.
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