Harbhajan Singh on his debut as a lead actor: Cricket is my first priority, I am today whatever I am because of the game

Cricketer Harbhajan Singh talks about making his Tamil film debut, and why he will always prioritise his game over anything else.

After making his mark in cricket, Harbhajan Singh has tried his hand at a different ball game altogether, pun intended- acting. While he did dabble with it here and there, the Tamil film Friendship recently marked his outing as a leading actor.

Cricketer Harbhajan Singh is currently in Abu Dhabi to play in the IPL.

Offers had been aplenty till now. “I was offered Punjabi films earlier with big producers. I know a few of them they said ‘let’s make a movie with you’ I was too busy playing cricket, I didn’t have time to get into all this, I never thought about it. I always thought this is not my cup of tea. Acting is also something people learn. I have obviously faced the camera on field, this is like live hai, chala raha hai, reaction aa gaya. Here you have to actually get yourself into that zone,” says the 41-year-old, currently in Abu Dhabi to play in the Indian Premiere League (IPL).

Doing a full fledged film thus, was in his own words a ‘challenge’. Singh says the language was also something he had to grasp. “I honestly just went with the flow, thinking let’s just give it a try and see what happens. I never thought I will become an actor. My life has only been about cricket. Apart from it, I don’t think mere dimaag mein tha yeh karna hai, voh karna hai. If you don’t try, you will never know. After 10 years you might say kar lena chahiye tha. I will not have that regret,” asserts the cricketer.