Khel khel mein

Salman Khan. Pic/AFP; (right) Sohail Khan left for Sharjah on Thursday. Pic/Yogen Shah

For the next few days, some Bollywood actors will trade their place in front of the camera for the cricket grounds of Sharjah. The 10th edition of the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) kicks off today in the United Arab Emirates with a match between Mumbai Heroes and Kerala Strikers. Like every year, Salman Khan - the brand ambassador for Mumbai Heroes, owned by brother Sohail Khan - will cheer for the team that includes Riteish Deshmukh, Suniel Shetty, Bobby Deol, Saqib Saleem and Aftab Shivdasani. "Salman stands as our mentor, as somebody who [promotes] us on his social media platforms. He will also attend the first few games, and if we enter the semis, Bhai will attend that match too," shares Sohail.

Since the amateur cricket league's inception in 2011, Salman lent his support to the endeavour that comprises eight teams and has actors from different film industries showcasing their cricketing skills. Sohail, however, rules out the idea of the superstar playing for Mumbai Heroes. "Among all of us, he plays cricket the best. Once he had attended our practice session, but he got injured and had to cancel two days of shooting. It's a heavy price to pay being a superstar. For us, it is more than enough that Salman bhai is a part of CCL and supports us."

Sohail reveals that the actors start training two months before the league commences. "We train slowly with our coaches, keeping our age in mind. Any injury on field can hamper [our acting commitments]. In one season, Sonu Sood had injured his leg, and as a result, couldn't shoot a film for two months. It made us realise that however passionate we are about cricket, we cannot mess with our primary profession.