Mumbai, Jan 24 (IANS): She never played cricket before, but when the challenge of playing an aspiring cricketer in a new TV show titled "Tamanna" came her way, actress Anuja Sathe says she took it head-on.

Anuja will be seen playing an aspiring cricketer named Dharaa Solanki in "Tamanna", which will air on Star Plus starting February 1. She is making her debut in the Hindi TV industry with the show, and has earlier worked in Marathi shows like "Agnihotra", "Suvasini" and "Lagori Maitri Returns".

"Cricket is something that I have never played before and I find it extremely challenging. I love challenges. I like facing them. That's why I took up this show," Anuja told IANS.

"The show is too different from the 'saas bahu’ sagas that we see on TV currently. It’s a finite series of around 120 episodes. Working with a renowned director like Abhinay Deo was a treat for me," she added.

For the role, Anuja had to watch cricket and learnt how to bat.

“Learning cricket was the biggest challenge for me. Our nation is one that worships cricket like a religion. So there is no way of going wrong. I had to work hard on it and learn cricket. I do follow cricket, but I had never played cricket before,” she said.

“I was an athlete in school. I have played a lot of sports before... like I do swimming; I’m also a very good badminton player. But these have been my hobbies, I never thought of having them as my career choices. So when it came to cricket, I thought that I should take it as a challenge as it is a sport,” she added.

Asked about her aspirations in the film world, Anuja said: “My journey as an actress till now has been a smooth one. Being an actor you have to struggle, but there are struggles in every field. So you have to put look of effort, do hard work and have patience.

“I’ve been working in this industry since last six years now, but I was restricted to Marathi show. So, 'Tamanna' is a very big opportunity for me and a big avenue. I’m just moving ahead step by step and aiming higher. If given a chance to do a film, why not,” she said.

Anuja also wants to sing.

“I always wanted to be a singer. I’m a trained singer and I still feel very nice whenever I sing. But I haven’t sung onscreen till now. I would love to do that someday in future," she said.

Besides Anuja, “Tamanna” will also feature Ketki Dave, Kiran Karmarkar, Harsh Chhaya and Vishal Gandhi among others.