New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) While Rimi Sen fell for the charms and long locks of Indian cricket skipper M.S. Dhoni in the 2007 dud “Hattrick”, actress Mandira Bedi is star-struck about former Test captain Anil Kumble in “Meerabai Not Out”.Releasing Friday, the film is based on the influence of cricket in people’s lives. Produced by Pritish Nandy Communications, the movie is about a woman’s love for cricket and Kumble.

According to Mandira, films made around the theme of sports usually revolve around players, but “Meerabai Not Out” is different. She says it belongs to the fans.

The actress admitted that getting into the skin of the character in the movie was not a difficult task for her. She’s already had a stint with the cricket world as the host of the TV show “Extra Innings” during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa - where she stood out more for her range of noodle-strap blouses.

Directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni, “Meerabai Not Out” also stars Anupam Kher, Eijaz Khan and Mahesh Manjrekar.

The film marks Kumble’s big screen debut alongside commentator Charu Sharma, who makes a special appearance.

“Meerabai Not Out” revolves around the life of Meera Achrekar (Mandira), a 32-year-old mathematics teacher in Vishwaprem Vidyalaya, a Hindi medium school. She has been happy and single for quite a while with the greatest love of her life being cricket, the Indian cricket team and, specifically, spinner Anil Kumble.

Living with her family in Mumbai, she is hugely popular among her students because of her passion for cricket.

Meera even bunks classes and fights for season tickets for every cricket match that is played at the city’s Wankhede stadium.

However, love suddenly blossoms in her life with heart-specialist Arjun Sachdeva (Eijaz Khan) and she realises that perhaps there is more to life than praying for Team India and Anil Kumble.

The film takes a turn as doubts arise whether Meera would be able to commit to her beau.

Going by the past performance of films based on sports at the box office, “Meerabai Not Out” may end up going back to the pavilion very soon.