Former cricketer and actor Salil Ankola has opened up about one of the darkest chapters of his life—his long, painful struggle with alcoholism. Once a promising fast bowler for India, Salil stepped away from cricket in the late 1990s and transitioned into television, appearing in shows such as Kehta Hai Dil, Kora Kagaz, and Vikraal Aur Gabraal. But behind the glitz of the entertainment industry, he was battling a severe addiction that nearly cost him his life multiple times.
In a recent conversation with Vickey Lalwani on his YouTube channel, Salil recalled that his drinking habit began soon after he retired from cricket in 1997. What started gradually soon spiraled into a dependency. “I didn’t choose to drink that much—it just happened over time,” he explained. The emotional disconnect from cricket ran so deep that between 1999 and 2011, he avoided watching the sport altogether because it reminded him of what he had lost.
Sharing the scale of his addiction, Salil revealed that during the worst phase, he would consume alcohol non-stop. “If I was awake for 24 hours, I was drinking for 24 hours. That was my way of escaping everything,” he said.
While friends and family attempted to intervene, he admitted that true recovery depends on the individual. “They did try to stop me, but maybe I wasn’t ready yet,” he said. Over the years, Salil checked into several rehabilitation centres and made repeated efforts to quit drinking, but the addiction kept pulling him back. He even watched the 2011 Cricket World Cup semi-final and final from a rehab centre—the first cricket matches he had watched in more than a decade.
Addressing misconceptions around alcoholism, Salil stressed that it is far more serious than people assume. “People think it’s just a habit or something done for enjoyment. It’s not—it’s a disease,” he emphasized. He revealed that his addiction had pushed him to the brink of death multiple times. “God has been kind. I shouldn’t have been alive. In 2014, I was almost gone. I was in the ICCU, given up for dead three times,” he recalled. Over the years, he was admitted to ICCU nearly 12 times due to alcohol-related complications.
Salil credits his eventual recovery to his second wife, whom he met through Facebook. Being a doctor, she understood the psychological and physical damage the addiction had caused and helped guide him toward a healthier life. Her support, he said, played a crucial role in helping him finally break free from alcoholism.
Today, Salil Ankola has returned to the entertainment world and continues to work in supporting roles across films and television. He was last seen in the Tamil film Pambattam, marking a promising new chapter after years of struggle.