'He would trouble batsmen with his bounce' - Irrfan Khan's childhood friend reveals he was an all-rounder like Kapil Dev and Imran Khan

The whole world was shocked when Irrfan Khan, on Wednesday, passed away in Mumbai after battling a medical complication that arose from a colon infection. He was known for his tremendous work in Bollywood as well as Hollywood. The national award-winning actor dished out many impressive performances through the course of his career. One of his notable works was in the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire.

Irrfan’s sudden demise came out as a shock for the entire film fraternity. His last film was the recently release ‘Angrezi Medium’. Post his demise, lakhs of messages poured in for him on social media and some people also shared many life instances of the actor.

Recalling Irrfan’s love for the game, Bharat Bhatnagar, his childhood friend, revealed that the actor was a good all-rounder and used to trouble batsmen with his bouncers.

“We were both pace bowlers but he was tall and that helped him generate bounce off the pitch. At that time we had only two clubs in Jaipur that had mat wickets. I remember he would often trouble the batsmen with his bounce,” he said as quoted by the Indian Express.

Irrfan Khan was a fan of Kapil Dev as well as Imran Khan

The actor was a fan of World Cup-winning captains Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Gundappa Vishwanath and Zaheer Abbas. As his friend revealed, Irrfan was an all-rounder like Kapil Dev and Imran Khan.

A very few set of Irrfan’s fans know that he wanted to become a cricketer instead of an actor. Irrfan wanted to participate in the CK Nayudu trophy which is considered as the stepping stone to the First-class career. However, due to shortage of funds (Rs 600), Irrfan was unable to participate in the tournament and that derailed his ambition of becoming a cricketer.

Irrfan’s career took a different path as he later took admission in the prestigious National School of Drama (NSD). Subsequently, he broke into the film industry and made his debut with the film ‘Salaam Bombay’.

After delivering many impressive performances in Bollywood, Irrfan also made his presence felt in the Hollywood. He featured in films like The Amazing Spiderman and Jurassic Park. Irrfan was awarded Padma Shri in 2010 by the Government for India for his contribution to the cinema.