Many sport stars have often demonstrated a penchant for owning a fancy set of wheels and none among them are more popular than cricketers. Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar often says that he would have been a race car driver, if he had not been involved with cricket- such is his fascination for cars. He had a Ferrari 360 Modena, which was presented to him by the ace F1 superstar Michael Schumacher on behalf of Fiat, on equalling late Sir Donald Bradman's record of 29 Test centuries. This vehicle was embroiled in a controversy, when Sachin asked for a customs waiver. However, he sold the Modena to a Surat-based businessman and now owns a Nissan GTR 530. Tendulkar also has a silver AMG Mercedes, Volvo S80 and black Opel Astra that he won at Sharjah.
Southpaw Yuvraj Singh was gifted with a Porsche 911 by the BCCI Vice President, after hitting 6 sixes against England in the Twenty20 during September 2007. During his lighting innings, Yuvraj also scored the fastest 50 in Twenty20 cricket. He also owns a BMW M3 and M5. Current captain M.S. Dhoni is known to have a fascination for motorbikes, owning a Harley-Davidson, a Yamaha 650cc bike, a Kawasaki Ninja and a Hero Honda CBZ. Dhoni also has an envious collection of cars, comprising of Mitsubishi Pajero, Hummer H2 and a Toyota Corolla, among others.
Off spinner Harbhajan Singh is the proud owner of a silver Hummer, which got into some trouble after it was driven by the Sikh without a registration plate and was reportedly fined Rs. 3000. Ace leg spinner Anil Kumble is not particularly fond of cars, but nevertheless he owns a black Mercedes E-Class and Ford Endeavour. Left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir owns a Bolero Stinger, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Santro and Maruti SX4, while his Delhi partner Virender Sehwag owns a beautiful Bentley Continental Flying Spur.
Apart from cricket, football is another sport which has a tremendous global fan following. In India, Baichung Bhutia is the most well known footballer, who owns an Audi Q5 and Q8. Among world players, English captain Steven Gerrard owns a Jaguar XKR convertible, which has a 510 bhp engine to propel it from 0-100 kmph in just 4.8 seconds. Goal scoring machine Didier Drogba from Ivory Coast, who also plays for Chelsea, owns a roaring Mercedes SLR McLaren Roadster.
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, who is also an important player for England, owns an exotic collection of cars, the best being the Ferrari 599 GTB. The high scoring midfielder also owns a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and an Aston Martin DB9. Famous Portugese player Cristiano Ronaldo was gifted a 570 bhp Audi RS6 as a part of the deal between Audi and Real Madrid club. Ronaldo is also the popular owner of a Bentley Continental GT. It is also known that he crashed a Ferrari 599 GTB in the past. 22-year old Wayne Rooney, ace scorer for Manchester United, owns several glorious cars such as Bentley Continental GT, Aston Martin Vanquish, BMW M6 and a Range Rover.
No celebrity has been in the news more often than former England captain David Beckham, whether for himself or his wife, posh Spice Victoria Beckham. His collection of automobiles is also just as perfect as his footballing career. Cars owned by him include Ferrari 430, Ferrari 575, 2 Bentley Arnages, a Rolls Royce Phantom and vintage Aston Martin V8. He also has a custom-made Aston Martin DB7, which showcases DB7 in place of the number plate, indicative of his initials and his jersey number at Manchester United. If Beckham wants to go off-roading, he can choose from his fleet, which includes monstrous GMC Yukon Denali, Cadillac Escallade and Ford F150.
