REVEALED: Lavish entourage of partners behind Indian Test team includes Bollywood actress, politician & model

They may boast billions of diehard fans and hundreds of millions of dollars in net worth between them, but behind India’s stacked cricket team is a lavish entourage of wives and girlfriends with stardom of their own. From a Bollywood superstar and a rising actress who spent the week rubbing shoulders with Tom Cruise ,to a former Miss India finalist and a politician fighting for female empowerment, the partners of the national side include some of the most famous faces in the country. The 18-strong squad — who are in Perth ahead of the first Test of the summer on Friday — have made names for themselves in their whites, but they live a life of luxury off the pitch, complete with fast cars, expensive holidays, designer clothes and celebrity friends. The insane amounts of money to their name are pumped up primarily by lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 deals — the richest cricket competition on the globe — as well as expensive brand deals and extravagant sponsorships. And with a majority of the squad partnered up with the country’s most famous women, the result is some of the biggest power couples in international sport. Headlining the list of superstar partnerships is one of the greatest batsman of all time, Virat Kohli — who has a net worth of more than $140 million — and his wife Anushka Sharma, who is one of the biggest names in Bollywood and is believed to be worth about $56m. Kohli recently collaborated with global clothing brand Puma to release his own street and sportswear range and is an ambassador for countless Indian brands, including energy drink, plant-based food, smart watch and fashion companies. Sharma, who married the batsman in 2017 and has more than 68 million followers on Instagram, has appeared in and produced some of the most successful Indian films of the past decade and was even once named in Forbes Asia’s list of most influential people. But she is not the only actress in the entourage, with KL Rahul’s wife Athiya Shetty a rising name on the Bollywood scene. The 32-year-old beauty — who married the Indian opener last year and is currently pregnant with their first child — has almost five million followers to her name after a string of leading roles and award wins in major films over the past decade. Fan-favourite Shubman Gill has also been linked to the mega famous Avneet Kaur, who has 32 million followers on Instagram and posted a series of photos with Tom Cruise on set of the final Mission Impossible film, due to be released next year. The 23-year-old recently launched her latest movie, Love in Vietnam, and became the youngest Indian actress in history to be invited to walk the Cannes Film Festival red carpet. All-rounder Washington Sundar is also dating movie star Varshini Sounderajan, who has a following of about two million. Aside from the big screen, fellow all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is married to politician Rivaba Jadeja, a member of the Legislative Assembly in the Indian state of Gujarat. The 34-year-old, who married Jadeja in 2016, also has a strong social presence with 2.4 million followers to her name and is a known campaigner for women’s rights and empowerment. Captain Rohit Sharma, who boasts a long list of celebrity friends that includes the likes of soccer royalty David Beckham, is married to internet personality and renowned sports manager Rikita Sajdeh, who has more than three million online followers. Beckham famously posed with and sent out a public Tweet in support of Sharma, 37, last year ahead of their World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. Sharma, who is worth about $40m, is a brand ambassador for countless Indian food, technology and finance companies and is sponsored by Adidas. Star opening bowler Jasprit Bumrah in 2021 married former Miss India finalist Sanjana Ganesan, who is now a popular sports presenter with more than two million Instagram followers. The Indian squad on Friday finished the first of three intra-club warm ups at the WACA Ground after a week in Perth surrounded by mystery and confusion, including a complete lockout of the venue, where fans — and at times media and ground staff — were not allowed to enter. The first Test of the summer against Australia, dubbed The West Test, starts on Friday.