After 200 wickets,Shakti swings to a different beat

To make the transition to serious singing,Shakti visited the studio of music director duo Jatin-Lalit with some of his songs on a CD. “They listened to it and liked my voice. They said I could record a song for them — if it turned out well,they would keep it,otherwise delete it. It was the best deal I could get. A couple of months later,I got a call from them saying they had retained my part. It was my first break,” Shakti said.

Shakti,who works for Customs out of Mumbai,now performs in concerts too. “I’ve done live shows with Shankar,Ehsan and Loy in Chennai. They too told me they liked my voice. It’s been a steady rise up in film industry. I’ve recorded for big names in Hindi cinema,and I’m fortunate enough to have friends like Shah Rukh Khan.”

Shakti considers the effort it took to change professions,and dabbling with hobbies during his playing days,his most difficult challenges yet. “When you play cricket,you use your verbal chords very,very harshly. They can get damaged because there’s a lot of shouting involved — not necessarily at the batsman,” he joked. “You have to take great pains to make sure your voice remains unharmed. I had that passion. But it was difficult,” he said.

Shuttling between work,BCCI match referee postings,and singing,he has recently finished recording for a Haryanvi film. “When I played cricket,it was my first love and singing was in the background. Now I want to fulfil my creative ambitions.”