The Bollywood actor has left no stone unturned in trying to copy the legendary Indian batsman and former captain. Hashmi plays Azharuddin in an upcoming biopic that tells the tale of Azharuddin’s rise to international stardom. A source revealed how the Ungli actor fell prey to the injury. “Emraan had been prepping up for the Azharuddin biopic and was learning the nuances of the game when he hurt himself,” a source revealed.
Emraan has also been hitting a good number of balls daily with the bat. Tony D’Souza, director of the film said, “Azhar bhai is a wristy player and is known for his leg glance and he only uses his wrist. Emraan hits approx 300 to 400 balls a day and is only playing with his wrists.” The director was all praise for Hashmi’s work ethic and intense professionalism. “Despite the swelling in his hand, he kept practicing to get each and every nuance of Azhar right. This, along with the footwork of Azhar is very tough for anyone to master. But Emraan is training really hard for it. On some days Emraan hits another 200 balls in the evening.”
According to earlier reports, Azharuddin himself attended Emraan’s earlier batting sessions and helped him with a few tricks of the trade. Azharuddin supplied Hashmi with important information regarding the technicalities of the game and reportedly had a nice time with the actor. According to the Hindustan Times, Mohammad Azharuddin also handed over his own bat to Emraan Hashmi for the biopic.
“Emraan and Azhar were practising and the former cricketer had got his bat with him. They both felt that using the same bat during the shoot would look more authentic. The unit has been asked to take extra care of the bat so that it is not misplaced or damaged in any manner. They all know how attached the cricketer is to his personal belonging with which he has played several games for the country,” a source revealed to Hindustan Times.
Azharuddin was a stellar batsman and one of the classiest, wrist batsmen who stroked the ball with ease. In 2000, he was found guilty of a match fixing investigation and banned for life. The ban was uplifted in 2012, on the grounds that it was ‘unsustainable’. In 2011, Azharuddin’s son died as a result of a road accident. The batsman was the recipient of the Arjuna award and also a Member of the National Congress. Azharuddin played 99 Tests and scored 6125 runs at an average of 45. He also played 334 ODIs, scoring 9378 runs at 36.92 during a 15-year career.
