IPL 2020: Digvijay Deshmukh—Kai Po Che's Ali—Set To Represent MI

The actor who played the role of Ali in Kai Po Che – Digvijay Deshmukh has earned a new identity. The 21-year-old bowler has been picked by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 20 lakh

Those who have watched the movie ‘Kai Po Che’, they would definitely remember the character of Ali; the shy little boy who used to love playing marbles and hit sixes for fun. Later he realises his coach Govind's dream in the backdrop of 2002 Gujarat riots and don India colours at the end of the film loosely adapted from Chetan Bhagat's novel ‘Three Mistakes of My Life’. Six years down the line, the actor who played the role of Ali – Digvijay Deshmukh has earned a new identity. The 21-year-old bowler has been picked by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 20 lakh. “Yes, I am Digvijay and I acted as Ali in that movie Kai Po Che. But I was never an actor and always a cricketer. Now I am slowly realising my dream,” Digvijay said during a chat. His remarkable figures of 9 wickets from 7 games for Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy cruised him to the MI dressing room. As if to celebrate his maiden IPL call-up, Digvijay has also scalped up six wickets and scored 83 in Maharashtra's second innings on his Ranji Trophy debut against Jammu and Kashmir. While he recollected his time as a child actor and the instant popularity he got, he admitted that he never liked being branded as an actor. “I had gone to play a U-14 school tournament in Mumbai and one of the ADs (assistant director) of the film selected me for an audition and then I got the role. Everyone was very nice. I remember playing a lot of cricket with Sushant (Singh Rajput) and Rajkumar Rao. The character was somewhat like me, shy, reticent,” Digvijay said. “I got an opportunity to do a television commercial (advertisement) but I declined. My parents (father a school teacher and mother a homemaker) also supported me. I didn’t want the focus to waver from the game,” said the Pune based Digvijay. Ask him about his coaches, he said, “Right now, I am getting a lot of guidance from Surendra Bhave sir, our Ranji team coach. As far as my childhood coaches are concerned, there have been a few people who have helped me. If I name one particular, someone else might get annoyed.” He believes that his average speed is in the range of 132-134 kmph and he can swing the ball both ways. “I have no preference. I have just played a Ranji Trophy game and I want to play across all formats for my state team,” he said.