MSK Prasad says Deepak Chahar likely to be out of action till March, talks about Prithvi Shaw's possible comeback
The chief selector of the Indian cricket team MSK Prasad has stated that Deepak Chahar is unlikely to make a comeback into the Indian side until March 2020. Chahar sustained a back injury while playing against the West Indies in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam.
One of the finds of India's limited-overs home series, the 27-year-old Chahar grabbed the opportunity to lead the pace attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. After Chahar's injury, Navdeep Saini was picked for the third ODI, which India won to seal the series 2-1.
Prasad spoke to the reporters about the status of Chahar's injury, and expressed confidence that the team has enough backups to make up for any prolonged absence.
"I have my own doubts about Deepak Chahar till March-April," Prasad said. "We have enough back-ups ready across all formats across all disciplines so Indian cricket need not worry for 6-7 years".
Prasad also spoke about Prithvi Shaw's comeback into India A squad for the upcoming New Zealand tour. Shaw returned to competitive cricket after serving an eight-month ban from the game due to a doping violation. He scored 240 runs in five innings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and also struck a double hundred (202) against Baroda in the opening game of the Ranji Trophy.
Hinting at the possibility of the 20-year-old returning to the Test side as an opener, Prasad said that the selection committee wanted Shaw to gain 'game time as much as possible'.
He (Prithvi Shaw) has just come back after a long layoff and we wanted him to play a few more matches. We will see where he stands. There is India A series coming off with five ODIs and two Test matches. There is a lot of cricket.
Following his injury, Chahar has been left out from India's squad to play against Sri Lanka and Australia early next year. On the other hand, Shaw has been picked in the India A squads for the New Zealand series, slated to be held in the same period.