Confirmed – Vijay Sethupathi to play Muttiah Muralitharan in soon-to-be-released biopic

Muttiah Muralitharan’s soon-to-be released biopic ‘800’ will feature Vijay Sethupathi portraying the Sri Lanka spinner’s role in. On Twitter, noted film critic Taran Adarsh posted, “IT'S OFFICIAL... #VijaySethupathi to star in cricketer #MuthiahMuralidaran biopic... Directed by #MSSripathy... Produced by Movie Train Motion Pictures and Dar Motion Pictures. #MuralidaranBiopic.” Muttiah Muralitharan is considered one of the greatest bowlers in the history of cricket and the biopic’s name ‘800’ is a tribute to the number of wickets he has taken in Test cricket.

Muttiah Muralitharan is the only cricketer to have taken 800 wickets in Tests, comfortably ahead of Australia legspinner Shane Warne, who has taken 708 wickets. Vijay Sethupathi, who is known as ‘Makkal Selvan’ to his legion of fans in the Tamil film industry, will reprise his role. Considered the most versatile actor in the Tamil film industry, Sethupathi gained fame in the 2016 police action thriller Sethupathi while his popularity went up a notch in the 2016 film Dharma Durai.

IT'S OFFICIAL... #VijaySethupathi to star in cricketer #MuthiahMuralidaran biopic... Directed by #MSSripathy... Produced by Movie Train Motion Pictures and Dar Motion Pictures. #MuralidaranBiopic pic.twitter.com/0KeCPzk6im

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) October 8, 2020

Muralitharan’s greatness

It was rumored that Vijay Sethupathi had been taking lessons from Muttiah Muralitharan some time back and in an earlier interview, he had stated how happy he was to have been associated with the iconic bowler.

The cast and crew have not yet been announced for the biopic apart from the confirmation of Vijay Sethupathi as the main lead.

Muttiah Muralitharan started his cricketing career in 1992 and in the course of 18 years, he is the only bowler to top the ODI and Test bowling charts with 534 and 800 wickets respectively. He has the most five-wicket and 10-wicket hauls in Tests by any bowler. Muralitharan took his 800^th wicket when he dismissed Pragyan Ojha in the Galle Test of 2010 and immediately after that, he announced his retirement from Tests.

In the Indian Premier League, Muttiah Muralitharan has played for Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore while currently, he is the bowling mentor for Sunrisers Hyderabad.