Sreesanth
Sreesanth says that Ajith is the only 'Thala'. File photo of World Cup-winning pacer.Reuters

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ajith Kumar are the two celebrities who are referred to as 'Thala' (leader) by the youngsters of Tamil Nadu. If the cricketer has earned the aforementioned monicker in the recent years, the actor got the title way back in 2001 in his flick Dheena, written and directed by AR Murugadoss.

However, for cricketer Sreesanth, there is only one 'Thala' and that is none other than Ajith.

"I always believe there is only one Thala. Not just in Chennai, but all over the world, there is only one Thala. I'm a huge fan of that Thala. I saw a lot of posters that said Dhoni is our Thala and similar things. But come on, everyone knows that there is only one Thala and it is our favorite Ajith Annan," Behindwoods quotes him as saying in a video.

Though Sreesanth does seem to have immense respect for MS Dhoni as well. "Rest of them are at a bit lower level. We all respect Dhoni as the captain cool. I am honored to have played under him," he added.

The cricketer is a huge fan of Tamil cinema and makes time to watch Kollywood movies. He, along with three other cricketers, was banned for life by BCCI after they were found guilty of spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League 2013. However, they were exonerated in July 2015 by Patiala House Court.

Sreesanth, who was part of the Indian team that won the 2011 World Cup, challenged the ban, and it was later lifted by a single judge bench of Kerala High Court. Though it was again restored by a division bench of Kerala HC.

Ajith busy with Viswasam

On the other hand, Ajith is busy with his upcoming movie Viswasam, currently, the shooting is happening in Hyderabad. The Siruthai Siva-directorial movie stars Nayanthara in the female lead.