Famous cricketer-actress link-ups

It looks like Bollywood's love affair with cricket is not limited to the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Rather, the players seem to be besotted to tinseltown's heroines -- or is it the other way around? Recently, there were reports of Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni dating south Indian actress Lakshmi Rai.

According to the grapevine, the model-turned Tamil actress met Dhoni when he was leading the Chennai Super Kings in last year's IPL matches, and the two have become an item.

Of course, Rai denied the rumours.

Like Dhoni and Rai, there have been quite a few link-ups in the past. We take a look at some of the recent and most prominent ones:

The pretty 23-year-old actress, who acted in films like U Me Aur Hum and Luck By Chance, was reportedly dating the 30-year old left arm pace bowler for two years before calling it quits in 2007.

Rumours of the two getting back together were doing the rounds when they were spotted at a gym. However, nothing came out of it as Isha is now reportedly seeing a London-based filmmaker.

She's famous for her role in Mohabbatein while he's the dashing left-handed batsman, who can also bowl a mean spin.

The two dated for four years before calling it quits. According to reports, the two split because Yuvraj's mother disapproved of Kim and her lifestyle. There were also rumours that the Kim was seeing Vivek Oberoi which then led to the split.

Yuvi makes the list again -- this time, with Deepika, who is now dating Ranbir Kapoor.

What gave rise to the link-up rumours was that the two were seen together on a number of occasions during the India-Pakistan one-day series. Deepika also attended Yuvraj's birthday party right after the India-Pakistan Test match in Bangalore.

Yuvraj seems to be quite the ladies man. He has been spotted many times with London-based model Karishma Kotak, best known for her work as a Kingfisher calendar girl.

If the rumours are true, we wonder how long will this hottie, who made her acting debut in Shankardada Zindabad, a Telugu remake of Lage Raho Munna Bhai, hold Yuvi's attention.

We've heard that men love the chase but in this case, it was apparently the woman, who did all the chasing.

Apparently, the south siren was so smitten by the cricketer at a fashion week party that she went out of her way to impress him. Shriya fussed over the cricketer and never left his side during the event.

Now this one is confusing. According to some, the 25-year old former Miss India fell in love with the Pakistani cricketer. The two then embarked on a long-distance relationship.

But Shoaib has denied the romance, called the relationship a friendship.

Then, there is the matter of a film that the two are supposed to be doing together by Wilson Louis. The film is a love story between a cricketer and a model. The two are said to be playing themselves in the movie.

Last year's IPL matches wasn't all about cricket. On the sidelines was the blossoming romance between Sameera Reddy and the right arm fast bowler Ishant Sharma.

According to a national newspaper, the two met during some of the IPL matches and hit it off very well.

Sameera, however, denied the news.

The actress, who made her debut opposite Emraan Hashmi in The Train, was apparently spotted entering the cricketer's room in a Mumbai hotel, thus fuelling rumours that the two were seeing each other.

Like many others before her, Geeta dismissed the rumours as baseless.

She is a Kannada and Telugu actress while he's the Bangalore Royal Challengers batsman. They have apparently been spotted together on many occasions.

But the couple, who know each other for the past one year, say they're just good friends.