Medium-pacer Deepak Chahar enjoyed an impressive run in the last year in T20 cricket. His ability to pick up wickets with the new ball made him regular in the Indian T20 squad. Just like many, he was also an IPL scout. He has picked 32 wickets across 19 games in the last two seasons, playing for the Chennai Super Kings. Chahar was particularly impressive in the T20I series against Bangladesh, but is currently out of action due to a stress fracture in his back. He picked up this injury during the recently concluded West Indies ODI series. Since then, he is out of action and will be missing the India vs Sri Lanka series.
Having made his debut against England in 2018, Chahar has so far played 10 T20Is for India, in which he has picked 17 wickets at an average of just 14.76. But his best moment came two months ago, when the pacer picked 6/7 against Bangladesh in the T20 series in Nagpur. These are the best bowling figures in T20 cricket for any bowler in the world.
In an interview with Telegraph, Chahar told, “The stress fracture is mainly due to playing excess cricket. Therefore, I have to be selective now or else I won’t be able to survive”.
“My objective is to keep performing better, but I will also be doing required training and exercises so that I regain my lost pace. Since I was playing continuous matches, I lost around two-three kilometers of pace”.
Chahar burst onto the scene during the 2010-11 Ranji Trophy season while playing for Rajasthan. He was able to pick wickets in domestic cricket, but he soon realized that he needed to increase his pace to be able to play in international cricket.
“I knew if I need to succeed at the highest level I need to increase my pace. I knew I had to bowl at 140. Since I was a child, I had tried to go to 140 from 135 because that’s the deadliest ball. But I realised, you can face 150 on a flat pitch, but if it swings at around 140 it’s more difficult,” Chahar said.
