India and Chennai Super Kings’ seam-bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar’s career has taken a major dent in the past year due to multiple injuries.
The 30-year-old Chahar last played for India at the start of December, after which he missed the 12 white-ball matches against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Chahar had returned to international cricket only in August, after a six-month injury layoff which saw him miss the IPL 2022.
CSK had regained Deepak Chahar’s for a whopping INR 14 crore after having released him ahead of the mega-auction. In Chahar’s absence, CSK suffered shockingly, and finished at the 9th position in the 10-team IPL 2022.
Late in the tournament, the likes of Mukesh Choudhary and Simarjeet Singh flourished for CSK as new ball bowlers, but it was too late by then.
Chahar is close to retaining his full fitness and is set to make his comeback in the IPL 2023, which will start in 6 weeks’ time.
CSK will be hoping that Deepak Chahar is not only at his full fitness, but at his best with the ball too. For Chahar’s new ball expertise is crucial for CSK’s chances to win their 5th IPL title in what would is certain to be the last season for MS Dhoni, the captain and player.
How many wickets has Deepak Chahar taken in the IPL?
In 63 IPL matches, Chahar has taken 59 wickets and kept a good economy of 7.8.
Deepak Chahar has built up a reputation as the most trusted bowler with the new ball in the powerplay. In the IPL since 2018, when Chahar joined CSK, Deepak Chahar has taken 44 wickets in the powerplay and kept an impressive economy of 7.61.
No other bowler has taken more powerplay wickets in the IPL since 2018 than Deepak Chahar – not even Trent Boult, not Umesh Yadav, not Mohammed Shami.
On the back of such terrific new ball show, along with his lower-order hitting abilities, Chahar also made it into Team India’s plans of T20 World Cup last year, however, he fell out due to injuries.
In CSK’s title winning season in 2021, Chahar took 14 wickets in 15 IPL matches, out of these 10 wickets came in the powerplay alone. Dhoni devised the best method to use Chahar upfront, and tried utilizing him as much as possible in Chahar’s favored bowling phase, often looking to give Chahar a third over in the powerplay when the bowler was on song.
This penchant of Chahar to take an early wicket or two went a long way in helping CSK win the IPL 2021.
CSK, their fans and skipper MS Dhoni would be banking on Deepak Chahar once again, come the IPL 2023, that the pacer will deliver on the expected goods.
