Former Delhi state-level cricketer to play Mohinder Amarnath in cricket drama ‘83’

India’s historic World Cup victory of 1983 will have a cinematographic recreation next year when Kabir Khan-directed ‘83’ will be released in April. Currently, work is under progress to assemble the actors who would portray Kapil’s Devils – as the members of that team are called for their world-conquering feat. Ace actor Ranveer Singh will play the role of Kapil Dev, the legendary all-rounder who led the team. India had beaten the formidable West Indies by 43 runs in the final to lift their maiden cricket World Cup at the Lord’s on June 25.

Reports now say that 30-year-old actor from Delhi Saqib Saleem will play the role of Mohinder Amarnath, the vice-captain and a key member of the team who came up with decisive performances in the semi-final and final to be adjudged the Man of the Match on both occasions.

In the semi-final against England, Amarnath took two wickets and 46 runs while against the Caribbeans in the title clash, he ended up with 26 runs and three wickets to humble the former world champions. Amarnath’s unique feat of ending up as the Player of the Match in the final two games of a WC is not matched by many and some of whom did include big names like Aravinda de Silva (1996) and Shane Warne (1999).

Saleem himself was once a state-level cricketer

Saleem himself was a state-level cricketer from Delhi once and it will be interesting to see how he exploits his knowledge on the game on the screen. Among other actors who feature in this sports drama are Tahir Raj Bhasin (plays Sunil Gavaskar), Saahil Khattar (Syed Kirmani), Ammy Virk (Balwinder Singh Sadhu), Jiva (Krishnamachari Srikkanth), Chirag Patil (Sandeep Patil, his own father) and others.

Curiosity is already growing fast over the film made over one of India’s biggest sporting achievements. After two disastrous World Cups, the 1983 edition had seen India scripting a history that would go on to change the course of the country’s sports narrative. It was 28 years later since Kapil’s team did something extraordinary that MS Dhoni led India to their second World Cup title which came at home.

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