Taking notes on a pad, typing them into his laptop under an asbestos sheet at the St Stephens ground, Shakti Singh looked like any other cricket match referee during the under-22 match between Delhi and Railways. But the former fast bowler for Delhi and Himachal Pradesh not only commands respect from the players for his 200 wickets in 58 first-class matches, he is also listed in their I-pods for a series of Bollywood hits.

Shakti, 41, has moved from swinging the ball to making people swing to his beat. Now a playback singer, he had recorded songs for films such as Life Partner and Kisaan. His latest song Punjabi munde hoge kamal from Kisaan has been racing up the charts, after Aage Aage from Life Partner only recently left countdown shows. After singing playback for Fardeen Khan, Govinda and Sohail Khan, he is now recording for a movie featuring Shatrughan Sinha and Rekha. “I was always interested in classical music. I’m a trained Hindustani vocalist, which I learnt in Himachal. Even when I was actively playing cricket, I never missed riyaaz. I used to also ensure that I sang in the correct tune and got the lyrics right — even while humming a film song," Shakti told The Indian Express.

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.

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