The casting of the actor who plays for cricketer Sandeep Patil in Kabir Khan’s 83 (2020) is special. The cricketer’s son, actor Chirag Patil, has been roped in to play his father in the film based on India’s cricket World Cup victory in 1983.
Sandeep Patil was a hard-hitting batsman, which was rare in those days. He was known for his big shots, be it against fast bowlers or spinners. He was also known for his medium pace bowling. His contribution for Mumbai’s domestic cricket was also immense.
Patil’s knock of 51 not out off of just 32 balls against England in the semi-final of the 1983 World Cup played a major role in India storming into the finals of the tournament.
The poster of Patil’s character shared by the film’s official page on Facebook shows Chirag playing a lofted drive, a shot for which the cricketer was famous. The poster is captioned, “The handsome hard-hitting batsman who could destroy the opposition. Presenting Mumbai ka Sandstorm.”
Sandeep Patil was in the news last week when he told a group of youngsters at an event to not apply sunscreen while playing while referring to India’s current all-rounder Hardik Pandya. “Stop these antics. Don’t be like Hardik Pandya,” he had said much to the amusement of the netizens.
Chirag Patil has been an actor for nearly a decade. He has acted in few Marathi and Hindi films. His most notable work was in Sachin Kundalkar’s Vazandar (2016), which starred Priya Bapat and Sai Tamhankar in lead roles.
But 83 has another actor who will be also playing his cricketer father in the film. The late West Indian bowler Malcolm Marshall’s son Mali will play his father.
83, starring Ranveer Singh as captain Kapil Dev, will be releasing on 10 April.