Seven years ago, Navdeep Tomar was the khalnayak of Delhi cricket, the all-rounder who brought hoodlums to threaten selectors and officials after he being denied a spot in the Delhi Ranji team.
Tomar’s act had caused Delhi cricket acute embarrassment. His selection from outside the list of probables had even forced DDCA president, Arun Jaitley, to sack the selection panel midway through the season. It only highlighted the serious selection issues in Delhi, even forcing Virender Sehwag to contemplate shifting to Haryana in 2009.Tomar continues to be the khalnayak, only now his stage has shifted to Bollywood.
His first movie, Zanjeer, has just been released where he plays the negative role of a bad cop. “I have left cricket behind,” he told HT. “I acted immaturely then but learned the hard way as it cost my cricket career.
But I want to move ahead, show love to all those I caused pain and urge them to watch my movies.”Son of a farmer in the capital’s Fatehpur Beri village, he had met the film director at a festival game two years ago. “I wasn’t getting anywhere in cricket, so I had to think of something else to make a living. This clicked, and now I have another movie offer. Luckily, I have my elder brother, Pradeep who stood by me and guided me.”