Kabir Khan's passion project '83' is just a few days away from release and the hype around it is unreal. The audience are all set to relive those glorious moments from 1983 when Kapil Dev's underdog team defied the odds to lift the World Cup. Actor Saqib Saleem, who plays the role of vice captain Mohinder "Jimmy" Amarnath, recently opened up about his preperations for the role and how he had to undergo an unexpected physical transformation.

Usually the actors who play sportspeople in movies, have to amp up their workouts in the gym but in order to play Jimmy Amarnath in '83', Saqib actually had to quit gym altogether. The idea was to make him look like an 80s cricketer who used to do running, cycling and bodyweight training instead of going to the gym and thus, the role required him to lose a lot of muscle and definition. However, not many people know that Saqib was an aspiring cricker in his teens and early 20s and he has also played the sport at state level.

According to a recent report in ETimes, Saqib said, "I have been prepping for this role my entire life. As a child, teenager and until my 20s, all I wanted was to be a cricketer. I was obsessed with it. I've played cricket at the state level and I thought that someday I would pursue the sport as a profession. I was psyched when the role of Vice Captain Amarnath in 83 came to me. All those hours spend watching matches, analysing players' game and crunching numbers were well worth it. I made great memories and I gave the film everything I had.”