Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; February 23, 2019)

If all goes as planned, director Kabir Khan and Ranveer Singh’s squad of ’83, the film based on India’s first win at the cricket world cup in London, has found three key players. Bombay Times has it that Dhairya Karwa, who played Captain Chandok in Aditya Dhar’s Uri, has been finalised to play Ravi Shastri, who is the current coach of the Indian cricket team. The actor was signed on just a few weeks ago.

Not just that, sources close to the project indicate that Gully Boy actor Vijay Varma has been approached to play Roger Binny, one of the most successful bowlers in the 1983 World Cup. He took 18 wickets in the tournament. Actor Jatin Sarna, a favourite in Anurag Kashyap’s clique of actors, has been cast to play Yashpal Sharma, who played some of his memorable innings in the World Cup. In the opening match, he was a top-scorer with 89 runs as India caused West Indies their first defeat in a world cup match. In the semi-finals against England, he had scored 61 runs.

The actors have already slipped into prep mode since the shoot commences in May and a bonding session is scheduled in March. Apart from Ranveer Singh, other actors finalised for the film are Ammy Virk, Hardy Sandhu, Chirag Patil, Jiiva, Sahil Khattar, Saqib Saleem and Tahir Raj Bhasin.