Ranveer Singh has beaten the competition, pleased the selectors and is now at the crease to play Kapil Dev in Kabir Khan’s rendition of the 1983 World Cup. Acknowledging that he is honoured to be a part of this great story, he admits that at the same time he doesn’t know how he will pull it off, as it is going to be “difficult to emulate Kapil paaji”. Going by the actor’s track record though, he’ll do it and very admirably too, we say!

Ranveer was at the special event organized to honour cricketing legends who have brought honour to the nation. This pre-film launch, titled, '83,  saw many players who had actually been a part of that historic India win, in attendance, including the inimitable captain, Kapil Dev, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Mohinder Amarnath, Sandeep Patil, Roger Binny, Dilip Vengsarkar, Balwinder Sandhu, Kirti Azad, Yashpal Sharma, Sunil Valson and Madan Lal.

It was rewind time as these greats regaled listeners with interesting tales. Srikkanth spoke about how he’d had to cancel his honeymoon to return home for the felicitation by the President after their WC win, while then-captain Kapil grinned that it wasn’t easy to handle the team at all, as nowhere can character like these be found.

Ranveer was full of his own fun anecdotes as he gave cricketer Mohinder Amarnath credit for his own success as an actor. Apparently, Ranveer had played the Giles Shield during his school days and he and his friends had decided to take coaching lessons from Amarnath at Khar Gymkhana. The meeting didn’t go well. As usual, Ranveer reached the practice sessions late and then walked up to shake hands with the cricketing great, not realizing that the rest of the boys were standing in the queue for a reason. His cricketing skills did not impress Amarnath either but it all panned out well for Ranveer, who went on to make it big in another field altogether.

This one gives us a winning feeling already!