Kapil Dev: The background behind his iconic, innovative 'Natraj Shot'

With the age of slam-bang cricket and the emergence of T20s, many innovative shots such as the 'Helicopter Shot' have seen batsmen score more runs in the shortest format of the game. Similarly, once upon a time, one such shot was invented named the ‘Natraj Shot’ by the 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev, when ODI cricket was picking up and only Test cricket was the norm. The shot was largely responsible in creating Dev's aura, that last even today, after many years of his retirement.

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Dev had played the iconic 'Natraj Shot' first at the Nevill Ground at Tunbridge Wells in England where the World Cup-winning skipper had scored a mammoth and tournament-changing innings of 175 against Zimbabwe in their round-robin match. That match still remains one of the most memorable matches in India's cricketing history. On Monday, Hindi film actor Ranveer Singh shared a photo from his upcoming film '83 on Twitter. The actor is playing the role of Dev, who is looking at the ball after playing the famous Natraj shot.

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Ranveer seems to have played his part to perfection and the credit also has to go to makeup artists, who have managed to create a look (moustache, hair and so on) that has made the resemblance uncanny. Ranveer Singh wrote, “NATRAJ SHOT. #RanveerAsKapil @therealkapildev @kabirkhankk @deepikapadukone @Shibasishsarkar @madmantena #SajidNadiadwala @vishinduri @RelianceEnt @FuhSePhantom @NGEMovies @vibri_media @ZeeMusicCompany.”

Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev

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'83, which is directed by Kabir Khan is about the Indian cricket team that brought the Cricket World Cup home in 1983, ending the dominating era of the West Indies. Apart from Ranveer as Kapil Dev, 83 stars Saqib Saleem as Mohinder Amarnath, Tahir Raj Bhasin as Sunil Gavaskar, Ammy Virk as Balwinder Sandhu, Adinath Kothare as Dilip Vengsarkar, Sahil Khattar as Syed Kirmani, Chirag Patil as Sandeep Patil, Dhairya Karwa as Ravi Shastri, Dinker Sharma as Kirti Azad, Jatin Sarna as Yashpal Sharma, Harrdy Sandhu as Madan Lal, Nishant Dahhiya as Roger Binny, R Badree as Sunil Valson and Pankaj Tripathi as their coach PR. Man Singh.

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