Tahir Bhasin on portraying the original Little Master for '83
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; February 14, 2019)

While director Kabir Khan could not envision anybody except Ranveer Singh as skipper Kapil Dev for '83, filling Sunil Gavaskar's shoes proved to be a challenge. Following rumours that Tahir Raj Bhasin was in talks for the project, the director confirmed to mid-day that the actor will be seen as the original Little Master on screen.

"The casting of Sunil Gavaskar was important since he was one of the superstars of the team. I needed an actor with a certain gravitas to portray the Little Master. Tahir had the persona for that," said Khan.

Bhasin, who was previously seen in Mardaani (2014), says it is "a massive responsibility" to portray one of the greatest batsmen in Test cricket history. "For now, I'm focusing on striking the ball with half the panache that Gavaskar did. I look forward to meeting him once we're settled in the training regime. We train three days a week, focusing on our stance and batting technique."

So far, Singh's men in blue include Ammy Virk as Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Saahil Khattar as Syed Kirmani, Jiiva as Krishnamachari Srikanth and Pankaj Tripathi as manager PR Man Singh.