In a league of her own

The spirit of sports is ingrained in actress Parvathy Nair. She grew up in a sports-loving family and was deeply inspired by her father, who has played hockey and cricket, when the family was in United Arab Emirates.

The brand ambassador of  ‘Karnataka Bulldozers’ for the sixth edition of the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL), she was surprised when she was called  for it.

“I guess sports runs in the family and I can’t do much to get away from it,” laughs the ‘Yennai Arindhaal’ actress, who doesn’t seem to feel the pressure of wearing many hats at all.
She savoured every moment of the match when ‘Karnataka Bulldozers’ beat ‘Chennai Rhinos’ recently, walking away with the trophy and a huge margin. She says the feeling still hasn’t sunk in as she lauds her “dedicated and disciplined team, who were guided by a very focussed captain”.

“It was a well-deserved victory as Karnataka won by a huge margin. I feel that the players are also fit and were guided in the right direction by the captain. It’s nice to see that they took CCL as seriously as the country takes the Indian Premier League or the World Cup.”

Apart from cheering and supporting her team, the actress was also sharing light moments and developed a close bond with the fellow ambassador, actress Sharmila Mandre. Though they had met many times at various events, CCL was the ground that brought them together.

 “The team calls us twins now as we look similar. We even resembled each other during the match as we were both wearing Karnataka jerseys, had styled our hair in a similar fashion and were wearing the same brand of shades. Many people also told us that we looked like sisters when we walked on the ground as we are of the same height. We have a lot of mutual friends  and similar interests. She is very cooperative and fun to work with.”Parvathy hopes to show her might by playing, rather than cheering, at an ‘all women’s cricket league’.

Despite all the cricket frenzy and glitz that she is surrounded with, Parvathy is also busy shooting for her movies and finds time for both. She is currently working on a Malayalam film, which is untitled. She says that the movie has a fun script with a unique twist and is about some “unexpected, weird incidents that occur when a couple decide to go on a road trip”.

She adds, “Cricket and cinema come together on many grounds. Both industries are based on luck at the end of the day, despite the hardwork. In our country, most cricketers are as popular as movie stars or maybe even more. I feel that people from these two industries deserve the limelight and appreciation as the careers are so uncertain and tough.”