3 reasons why Rajasthan Royals should target Deepak Chahar in IPL 2025 auction
Deepak Chahar will be one of the key fast bowlers up for grabs at the IPL 2025 auction. Chahar has been going through a rough phase in his career, where he has been battling injury concerns. The right-arm pacer has spent 18 months in rehab in the last three years to recover from multiple setbacks.
Chahar appeared in eight games for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2024 and was ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a hamstring injury. However, he recently made a comeback to the domestic circuit and is raring to take part in the next edition of the cash-rich league.
Recently, Deepak Chahar expressed his desire to return to CSK setup, but also revealed that he would be happy if the Rajasthan Royals (RR) bag him in the auction. In an interaction with TOI, he said:
"I think they will bid for me again. I would like to don the yellow jersey again and if not that, then I would want Rajasthan Royals to bid for me."
On that note, let's take a look at a few reasons why the Royals will require a seasoned pacer like Chahar for the IPL 2025 season.
#1 Familiarity with Jaipur surface due to his domestic stint with Rajasthan
Deepak Chahar plays for the Rajasthan state team in the domestic circuit. Interestingly, his first-class debut in 2010 saw him take 12 wickets for the side in Jaipur. The game saw Hyderabad dismissed for the lowest-ever total of 21 in Ranji Trophy history.
As a result, Chahar was bought by Rajasthan Royals in 2011. However, the Agra-born pacer spent two years warming the bench and never played a game. Nevertheless, his stint with RR would have also helped him understand the surface at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium better.
In addition, it has been more than a decade of him playing at the same venue, so who could be a better fit for the role than Chahar himself?
#2 Rajasthan Royals are in need of new-ball pacer
The Rajasthan Royals chose to release pacers like Trent Boult, Avesh Khan and Nandre Burger, who were new-ball pacers for the team in the 2024 season. They retained a solitary pacer in the form of Sandeep Sharma, who is likely to focus on keeping the opposition quiet in the death overs. Nevertheless, he could be used with the new ball as well.
However, Deepak Chahar is a credible option for the RR side in the powerplay overs. If fully fit, Chahar can secure a couple of breakthroughs, and can also complete his full quota of overs if the need arises in the first 10 overs.
Interestingly, Chahar has 55 wickets of top-order batters among a total tally of 77 dismissals in the league, which accounts for more than 70% of his overall tally. The stats depict the pacer's ability to pick wickets with the new ball.
#3 Impressive T20 record
Since making his T20 debut in 2010, Deepak Chahar has scalped 167 wickets in 146 appearances. His best figures of 6/7 came for India against Bangladesh in 2019.
Chahar produced his best-ever IPL tally of 22 wickets in the 2019 season. His performance helped CSK to emerge as runners-up. In his first three full-blown seasons (2018-20), he kept his economy under 8, which is valuable in the shortest format.
After picking up 14 wickets in the 2021 season, Chahar was bought back by CSK for an amount of INR 14 Crore. However, he missed the entire 2022 season due to a quadriceps injury.
Deepak Chahar returned in the 2023 season and bagged 13 wickets in 10 games to help the Chennai-based franchise lift their fifth title.