What are some lesser known facts about Ricky Ponting?

 

1. Ricky’s uncle, Greg Campbell, played 4 Tests & 12 ODIs for Australia during 1989–90. Unlike Ricky, he was a fast bowler.
2. Ricky is the eldest of 4 children, and his family grew up in working-class housing projects.
3. Ricky received a sponsorship from the world-famous bat-company Kookaburra, when he was just 12-years-old and still in school!
4. Ricky worked as a ground staff for a private college, just after leaving school at the age of 16!
5. Shane Warne gave Ricky his nickname ‘Punter’ as he saw that Ricky liked dog-race-betting, in 1990!
6. Ricky came close to being selected for Australia’s 1993 Test-and-ODI tour of England, but the selectors chose Damien Martyn instead.
7. Ricky missed out on a century-on-debut by just 4 runs, against Sri Lanka in 1995.
8. Ricky was thrown out of a Kolkata nightclub after the 2nd Test against India in 1998. Indian media said he misbehaved with women, & he was fined $1,000 by his team manager. He stated that it was a couples-night, & a common Indian friend had let in Australian cricketers without the company of any females. Later, when security asked them to leave, there was a fight. He denied misbehaving with any women, & witnesses also supported him.
9. Ricky was the Australian captain during 2002–11, and played an important part in getting Shane Warne back into the Test team in 2004, and in Andrew Symonds’ rise as well.
10. Ricky has his own vineyard & range-of-wines since his Test retirement. 🍷🍷

What are some lesser known facts about Aishwaya Rai Bachhan?

 

1. In a poll conducted by "Hello" magazine, she was voted the #1 attractive woman of 2003, beating out Nicole Kidman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Gwyneth Paltrow

2. She is the most photographed woman in India.

3. Gained 20 pounds for Bride & Prejudice (2004) because she didn't want her character to look like a supermodel and also felt that it would add a sense of realism to the character

4. In 2004 she became the first Bollywood and Indian actress to have her own statue at London's Madame Tussaud's museum

5. She ran the Olympic-torch relay in June 2004.

6. The first actress from India to be signed with the American Library Association and also have a poster made of her for schools and libraries all across America

7. When Oprah Winfrey saw her interview on 60 Minutes (1968), she was so fascinated by her that she invited her to be a guest on her show. On 4/25/05 she became the first Indian and South Asian actress to be featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986).

Images Source : Google

Can you share some of the lesser known facts about Smriti Irani?

 The ex Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) in the Government of India, Smriti Irani was born on March 23, 1976.

Here are some interesting facts about the Indian politician and former model, and television actress.

• The youngest person on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, Smriti Irani was born in Delhi. She graduated class 12 from Holy Child Auxilium School in New Delhi
• Smriti's struggle in her early days of career can be determined from the fact that she worked as helping staff and cleaned floors at McDonalds in Bandra. Later, in an interview, she said that she only wanted to move to next level of welcoming diners at that point of time
• In 1998, she was one of the finalists of the Miss India beauty pageant

• In 1994, she made her debut on television with Aatish and Hum Hain Kal Aaj Aur Kal, both aired on Star Plus. She rose to fame as Tulsi Virani, the lead character in Ekta Kapoor's production Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi on Star Plus
• She joined the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in 2003. In 2004, she became vice-president of the Maharashtra Youth Wing
• Married to a Parsi Zubin Irani with two kids Zohr and Zoish, Smriti also has a stepdaughter Shanelle from Zubin's previous marriage to coordinator and former beauty contestant Mona Irani.

• Popularly known as TV's favourite bahu, Smriti got her big break as Tulsi Virani in Ekta Kapoor's Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi in mid-2000. Sadly she had a fallout with Ekta and was replaced by Gautami Kapoor in 2007.

• Smriti and Modi were not always the on the best terms with each other. In fact, in December 2004, Irani threatened to fast unto death Narendra Modi resigned from his position as Gujarat Chief Minster and blamed him for BJP's electoral losses. However, she later relented after being threatened by BJP's central leadership. Guess much water has flowed under the bridge and all is good between the now PM and HRD minister.

• In the 2014 general elections, Smriti wore orange saris to every one of her rallies in keeping with the BJP saffron colour.

• On May 26, 2014, she was appointed as the Minister of Human Resource Development by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his cabinet

Image source - Google/Getty images.

What are some lesser known facts about Nora Fatehi?

 

• Nora Fatehi was born to Moroccanparents in Canada; her mother is a third generation Indian. Thanks to her multi-cultural upbringing, she can speak both Hindi as well as Arabic without a hitch!
• She became famous for her skills in belly dance, which she picked up by watching online videos during her younger days.
• She appeared on Season 9 of Bigg Boss as a wild card, lasting 25 days.
• According to Nora, Salman Khan is one of the main reasons why she chose to be a part of the show. Norais head-over-heels in love with Salman and this is what she say about him: “He's simply amazing. He's one of the reasons I took the show. I hope when I meet him, he likes me.”
• She also appeared on the reality dance show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa,’ which was on the lines of ‘Dancing with the Stars.’
• She dated Indian actor Angad Bedifor a while but ended the relationship when he chose to marry Neha Dhupia.
• She has also been rumored to have dated bodybuilder Varinder Ghuman and actor Prince Narula.

And she got her break with an item number in a Tollywood movie after which, she was seen in a number of Tollywood movies.

• She debuted with Roar: Tigers of the Sunderbans after which, she was seen in Crazy Cukkad Family. But it was the Telugu industry where she truly found her footing.
• She wants to change the perception about foreign artists in India

What are some lesser known facts about the actor Yash?

 ROCKING STAR YASH

1. The superstar was born as Naveen Kumar Gowda

2. Beyond acting, Yash is also a talented playback singer. He lent his voice to the popular track Annthamma from Mr. and Mrs. Ramachari

3. Yash met his wife Radhika Pandit while working on a television serial. After dating for several years, the couple tied the knot in 2016

4. Yash was born in the Hassan district of Karnataka to a hardworking family. His father served as a bus driver with the KSRTC for many years and continued working even after Yash became a superstar

5. Yash began his acting career with Kannada television shows such as 'Nanda Gokula’

Images Source : Google

What are some lesser known facts about Indian cricketers?

 Virender Sehwag is generally never afraid to face a bowler but once the man did not want to take first strike due to superstition

This happened long back around 2004, test series between India and Pakistan.

The series was drawn 1-1 and the decider was in Rawalpindi. Pakistan were bowled out for 224 and Parthiv was told he would open with Sehwag.

The teenager was barely a couple of years old on the international scene and certainly did not want to do so, but the captain Sourav Ganguly had said so and Dada's word was law.

Now Sehwag was in great form with scores of 309 and 90 in the first two Tests. Parthiv begged him to take first strike but Sehwag felt he would get out first ball if he did so was not willing.

After a lot of begging, Parthiv convinced the dashing opener to face the first ball. Wonder of wonders!

Now imagine what happened? Yes, you are right, ace seamer Shoaib Akhtar came steaming in and sent his man to the pavilion!

Patel said he could not believe his eyes and realised he was in great trouble. He even thought that this would end his cricketing career.

Luckily Parthiv battled his demons to make 69 and India piled up 600. They won by an innings and 131 runs inside 4 days to clinch the series 2-1

The victory gave India its first Test series win on Pakistani soil. However, even today, when Patel recalls the moment, he wonders that how a batsman of such stature could buckle under the pressure of something called superstition

What are some lesser known facts about Ileana D'Cruz?

 Though Ileana D'Cruz started her career from Tollywood, many people are not aware that she was born in a Goan Catholic family at Mahim, Mumbai on November 1, 1986. In her family, she has three sisters and one brother. She has done her Bachelors from Mumbai, St Xavier's college.

Ileana D'Cruz started her career as a model. Her mother was working in a hotel and the hotel manager advised Ileana that she has a vibrant smile and she should start modeling. Ileana describes her first photoshoot which was created in January 2003, a disaster. From her second portfolio, she received three assignments of advertisements, Emami, Electrolux, and Fair & Lovely. One was directed by Rakesh Roshan which gave her much needed exposure and brought several offers in acting.

In 2006, Ileana D'Cruz made her debut from Tollywood romantic movie Devadasu. She was nervous and felt pressured while shooting and she doesn't want to move ahead but it was her mother who motivated her. Ileana describes that conversation as the lecture of a lifetime at 3 AM. She went on to earn the Filmfare Award for the Best Female Debutant for Devadasu. She also featured in various successful movies like Pokiri, Julai, Jalsa, Aata, Kick, etc.

Ileana D'Cruz was offered superhit movie Wanted opposite Salman Khan as she was the one who did its original movie Pokiri opposite, Mahesh Babu. But she turned down the role because she had exams during that time.

Ileana D'Cruz was starred in the Kollywood movie Nanban, a remake of All-time Blockbuster movie 3 Idiots opposite Vijay. The movie was a financial success.

6. Bollywood Debut

Ileana made her Bollywood debut from Anurag Basu's Barfi in which she portrayed the role of Shruti Ghosh and also the role of a narrator. Her performance was well-received by the audiences and she bagged another Filmfare Award for Best Female Debutant. Later she did many Bollywood movies like Main Tera Hero, Rustom, Baadshaho, Raid, Mubarakan and become one of the leading actresses in Bollywood.

What are some cool lesser-known facts about Stephen Hawking?

 (I) Stephen Hawking once tried to find potential time travellers by throwing a party and only sending out invitations after the party.

(II) Hawking was born on Galileo's 300 death anniversary and died on Einstein's birth date.

(III) Stephen said "outside of our own universe lies another different universe-- and in that universe, Zayn is still in one direction."

(IV) Hawking outlived his life expectancy due to ALS by over 50 years.

(V) He is the only person to ever portray himself in the star Trek universe.

(VI) When asked what his IQ was, Stephen said "I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers."

(VII) Timothy Hawking added swear words to his dad's (Hawking) voice synthesiser as a prank.

(VIII) In his final book Brief Answers to big questions Stephen mentioned "there is no god in the universe and no one directs our fate."

(IX) When Stephen was 9, he was ranked as a dull student in the Class.

(X) Stephen got married & divorced twice.

(XI) He could speak upto 15 words per minute, that too with a help of a speech generating device.

(XII) Hawking has written a children book named George's secret key to the universe.

(XIII) His life story was the subject of the 2014 film The Theory Of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne.

(XIV) During his school time, Hawking was nicknamed as Einstein.

What are some of the lesser-known facts about Morgan Freeman?

 Surprised no one has written this yet.

Morgan Freeman wears earrings because sailors wore them to pay for funerals in case they died in foreign lands. Even though he's an airman, he has had a long affinity towards the sea. His own words.

“I always wanted an earring. It has to do with my attachment to the sea. When I was around 35 I was separated from my wife and she said, “I’m going to pierce your ear.” I’m an avid sailor, a dyed-in-the-wool blue-water man.

You know why sailors used to wear a gold earring? It’s enough money to bury you in a foreign country.”

During earlier times sailors used to wear golden/diamond earrings as these were also an incentive for people to search for their corpses and recover them if they died in the sea.

What are some lesser known facts about Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav?

 1.) Humble background

Son of a brick kiln owner, Kuldeep’s family shifted from their native village in Unnao to Kanpur when he was fairly young so that his dream to become a cricketer could one day be realised.

2.) Started career as a fast bowler

Kuldeep wanted to bowl fast like his idol Wasim Akram. But when he met his coach Kapil Pandey in Kanpur, he was advised to become a spinner rather than a pacer due to his physique. The first ball that he bowled was a Chinaman and the coach asked him to build upon it that became his major forte later.

3.) Idolizes Shane Warne

While he was a fan of Akram in his younger days, Kuldeep started to appreciate the art of spin bowling once he started bowling Chinaman himself. He watched a lot of Shane Warne videos in order to perfect his techniques. Although Warne is not a Chinaman, the only difference between him and Kuldeep is that the former bowls with the right arm while the latter does it with his left.

4.) Excelling at the U-19’s

He was first picked in the Indian U-19 team as a 17-year old in April 2012 but missed out on selection for the U-19 World Cup, which India eventually went on to win under the leadership of Unmukt Chand. Later, he played for India in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2014, where he took a hat-trick against Scotland.

5.) IPL career

He was a member of the Mumbai Indians squad in 2012 but didn’t get a chance to play a game with them. In 2014, he scalped 6 wickets from 5 games in the Champions League T20, thereby playing a crucial role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ progress to the final. Since then, he has been a regular member of KKR squad.

6.) Dream Test debut

Kuldeep made his Test debut against Australia at Dharamsala in 2017. In the first innings of the Australian team, he returned with figures of 4/68. David Warner was his first Test scalp.

7.) Hobbies and interests
He really loves soccer and is a big fan of Football Club Barcelona. He doesn’t watch cricket much but loves watching soccer. He also enjoys playing table tennis and watching movies. Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez is his all-time favourite.

8.) ODI debut

Kuldeep made his One Day International debut for India against West Indies at the Port of Spain in June 2017. Although, the southpaw didn’t get a chance to bowl as the match was called off due to rain.

9.) Third Indian to take a hat-trick in ODIs

Kuldeep Yadav became the third Indian to take a hat-trick in ODIs after Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma in the 2nd ODI against India vs Australia on 21st Sep 2017.