Exclusive: Kabir Khan ropes in Harrdy Sandhu to play Indian pacer Madan Lal in Ranveer Singh-starrer 83

The prep work for Kabir Khan’s ambitious film 83 is going on in full swing. While Ranveer Singh will be seen playing Kapil Dev in the biopic – based on India’s historic victory at 1983 World Cup at Lord’s Cricket Ground, England – casting for the vital few players is still on. And in midst of heavy training session for the chosen actors and Kabir’s recce rounds, the casting is still on. We have now learnt that the filmmaker has roped in Harrdy Sandhu to play the role of cricketer Madan Lal, whose immense contribution went a long way in winning the World Cup. But there’s a special reason why Kabir has zeroed in on the Punjabi singer-actor to play the senior Indian pacer.

The reason why Harrdy has been roped in for the film is because besides being a versatile actor, he was also a cricketer himself. We found out that the actor used to actively pursue cricket until he was forced to give up the sport due to an injury. Says a source, “Yes, Harrdy has been roped in to play Madan Lal. Being a cricketer, he could easily imbibe the mannerisms of a cricketer easily. Plus he will have lesser time than the others in the cast to train for the sport, so it’s an added advantage that he already knows the sport and its intricacies.” What do you think of the casting? Do let us know in the comments section below.

About the cricketer, we all know how Madan Lal had played an important role in the Kapil Dev-led Indian cricket team’s historic win in 1983 by beating West Indies. The Indian team’s senior pacer Madan Lal had literally snatched the ball from Kapil Dev to get another over. It was a risk for Kapil to hand Lal one more over, but Kapil let Lal take over. Madan Lal went on to take Vivian Richards’ wicket in the same over, leading to the epic win.