Ranveer Singh opens up on how he used to play cricket for 4 hours a day for 6 months to become Kapil Dev

It wasn't easy for Ranveer Singh to transform into Kapil Dev, but he played cricket for "4 hours a day for 6 months" to prepare for his role in Kabir Khan's '83. In the film, he plays Kapil Dev, the captain of the 1983 cricket World Cup-winning team.

Ranveer Singh explained how he was able to deliver near-perfect bowling like Kapil Dev in the film: "He has a very unique bowling action and his bio-mechanics are very unique to him. My body is very different from his so I had to transform my physicality drastically in order to achieve it. It took a long time, in fact, months to perfect the action”.

Ranveer had begun filming for '83 after completing the schedule for his 2018 film 'Simbba.' In the Rohit Shetty-directed film, he played a cop. Ranveer Singh spent several months transforming from a cop to Kapil Dev. During that time, Ranveer was coached by former cricketer Balwinder Singh Sandhu, one of the legends of the 1983 World Cup. 

According to the actor, he said: "Initially, my body was too heavy because I was coming off of the shoot of Simba. Our coach noticed that my body was too heavy and he said, Jab tu run-up mein aata hai toh tu aisa lagta hai ki pehelwan bowling karne aa raha hai.' And he sent me away for a month just to change my physicality to bring it closer to Kapil's athleticism and then once I did that, I started making some headway."Ranveer Singh practiced for several hours per day to become as good as Kapil Dev at bowling. "I was playing cricket for 4 hours a day for 6 months and doing physical conditioning for 2 hours a day for those 6 months. Four months of prep and 2-3 months of shoot, I put in a lot of hours," he said.

Ranveer Singh was injured during his transformation, but that didn't stop him from practicing hard. He stated: "There were a few injuries along the way but it was very important for me to crack his action because it is an iconic bowling action and all his admirers will be looking out for whether I did it right or not. More importantly for him to feel that I got it right and for me to feel that I got it right and for it just spot on in the film and I had to put in the work but it was very fulfilling" and hilariously added: "At the end of the process, I have become a decent enough bowler also," reported.

Ranveer Singh used to practice under the guidance of Balwinder Singh Sandhu and producer. Sometimes, Kapil Dev also used to offer his inputs on the pitch.Previously, in an interview, Kapil Dev referred to Ranveer Singh as "He's a great actor," she said, adding, "I don't think he needs any inputs or any help. He just spent time with me and rest he is smart enough."

Tahir Raj Bhasin, Jiiva, Saqib Saleem, Jatin Sarna, Chirag Patil, Dinker Sharma, Nishant Dahiya, Sahil Khattar, Ammy Virk, Harrdy Sandhu, Addinath Kothare, Dhairya Karwa, R Badree, and Pankaj Tripathi also stars in '83. '83, starring Ranveer Singh's wife and actress DeepikaPadukone as Romi, Kapil Dev's wife, will be released on December 24.