India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is adept at the balancing acts. Outside cricket, he has unmatched passion for guns and motorbikes but hardly ever has that affected his game or leadership on the field. However, the serious business of investing in the world's most followed game may demand a different, escalated attention.
Dhoni, captain of the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, strengthened his relation with the southern city by becoming the co-owner of the Indian Super League (ISL) football club Chennaiyin FC. Following close on Dhoni's heels has been Virat Kohli, who co-owns the league's Goa franchise, FC Goa.
The two most prized possessions of the current Team India followed in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly who have thrown their weight behind India's attempt to lift football in the country. Tendulkar co-owns the Kerala Blasters while Ganguly has stake in his hometown team Atletico de Kolkata.
But while Tendulkar and Ganguly have time on their hands to devote having retired from cricket, Dhoni and Kohli have joined the bandwagon at a time Team India is preparing for its World Cup title defence in Australia and New Zealand just three months from now.
That leaves the Indian fans a little worried, though these are professional cricketers we are talking about who owe everything they have to the game.
But the way ISL is trying to sell itself by getting associated with Bollywood stars and cricketers, it also demands their time, which is where the risk of losing focus resides.
Dhoni, on his part, is good at multi-tasking. The India captain is also the co-owner of racing team Mahi Racing Team India in partnership with Telugu film superstar Nagarjuna, besides having a personal fleet of motorbikes and guns to fuel his passion off the cricket field.
But with football joining the roster of Dhoni's already chock-a-block calendar of commitments, there surely is risk of shift in focus.
On the other hand, Kohli is going through a bad patch, with his latest half-century against the West Indies coming after nine futile international knocks. The Delhi batsman even consulted Tendulkar and batted under the master's watchful eyes to iron out flaws that crept into his batting on India's tour of England.
But after his entrepreneurial plunge with the ISL, Kohli surely will have an eye on FC Goa's performance at a time when his entire focus should be on getting back into the form that has won India so many matches - earning Kohli the tag of a 'run machine'.
Indian sports fans surely want to see the standard of football rise in the country, but certainly not at the cost of another sport taking a dip. Draw a line.
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