After Karwaan, Dulquer Salmaan to play Virat Kohli in Sonam Kapoor starrer The Zoya Factor?

After making an impressive Bollywood debut with Karwaan, Malayalam superstar Dulquer Salmaan will now be prepping for his upcoming Hindi film The Zoya Factor alongside Sonam Kapoor.

The movie is the film adaptation of Anuja Chauhan's best-selling novel by the same name. If latest reports are to be believed, the actor will be essaying the role of the Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli on screen.

The Zoya Factor tells the tale of a Rajput girl, Zoya Solanki (Sonam), who meets the Indian Cricket Team through her job as an executive in an advertising agency. She ends up becoming a lucky charm for the team in the 2010 Cricket World Cup. Zoya was also born at the moment when India lifted the 1983 World Cup.

As Dulquer is quite familiar with the sport and is also a pretty good cricketer himself, it remains to be seen how the actor will take up the opportunity and rise above expectations.

While Dulquer will reportedly play Virat Kohli, Sonam Kapoor won't be playing Anushka Sharma in the film but the role of a team manager.

Director Abhishek Sharma believes that cricket woven into a "rom-com and touching on superstition and luck, is an amazing book for a screen adaptation".

"The book has many layers, characters and tracks. Sonam is our Zoya Singh Solanki, an advertising agency executive. She was the first person that came to my mind as she's as bubbly as Zoya. Dulquer will play Nikhil Khoda, the captain of the Indian Cricket Team in the film. It's always great to work with Adlabs Films," Sharma said in a statement.

It was earlier said that Pakistani actor Fawad Khan was the first choice for the role. However, since an unofficial ban had been called against Pakistani artists in Bollywood, the role eventually went to Dulquer.

Sonam had also said that she was looking forward to meeting Chauhan to discuss the character.

"Sonam wants to well prepare for her role in the film, a romantic comedy that touches upon superstition and luck. She is keen on understanding the story and her character in detail from Anuja Chauhan. Since Chauhan has penned the book , Sonam thought it best to meet her and discuss the book as part of her prep," said a source.

Other details about the film are still under wraps.

(With IANS Inputs)