After a six-month injury-forced break, Team India speedster, Deepak Chahar’s return to the team – in the first ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare – was stunning. He, however, started where he left off as he finished with a spell of 3 for 27 in 7 overs as well. Chahar, who has also been added among the reserves for the upcoming Asia Cup later this month, has returned at an important time as India look to fix their squad for the T20 World Cup as well.
“That [World Cup selection] is not in my hands. Skill-wise, though, I have worked really hard,” Deepak Chahar said after India’s 10-wicket victory in Harare. “There I can say I have probably started where I had left off. After the first over [when I had the run-up issue], rest whatever I bowled, I was happy. It was a seven-over spell, so the fitness is good.”
“My plan is always simple,” Chahar said. “When the ball is swinging, try to bowl fuller length and take as many wickets as possible. When the ball is not swinging, then there is a Plan B or Plan C. Today when I bowled, it swung for six-seven overs, so I had a simple plan: bowl full, mix the swing and confuse the batsmen,” Chahar continued.
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While he also missed the Indian Premier League due to his injury, Deepak Chahar knew that he was going to return soon in action and started working hard as well. However, he also said it was ‘difficult’ to return to the team in such a competitive setup as well.
“I knew I’d make my comeback in this series so I started loading my body according to that. I played all the practice games and bowled more than six over. The day I started bowling, in the first session I bowled six overs. When you know you’re going to play one-dayers, your workload is always like that. So before I came here, I played 2-3 practice games where I’d bowled 10 overs,” he said.
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“It’s difficult. You have to make your space again in the team. Because when you are away for a long time, others come in and perform well and make their place in the side. To make your place in the side again, you have to give good performances. So that pressure is always there on a returning player. I had the same expectation that I will do well when I come back because that is all a player has in his hand,” Deepak Chahar concluded.
