IPL 2022: 'Pragmatic' CSK won't make a big deal of missing Deepak Chahar: Daniel Vettori
Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori feels Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won't make a "big deal" of their most expensive IPL auction signing Deepak Chahar's injury concerns ahead of IPL 2022.
Chahar, CSK's sixth-highest wicket-taker and a key cog behind their recent title triumphs, injured his hamstring in a T20I against West Indies on February 20, just days after he signed a ₹14 crore contract. He hasn't played any cricket since and is likely to miss a few initial games of IPL 2022, which begins on March 26.
While most IPL teams would have been left sweating after such a turn of events, Daniel Vettori feels CSK will just "move on". On ESPNcricinfo's show 'Runorder', the Kiwi said such practical thinking makes the four-time champions an 'amazing' franchise.
He said:
"Every other team might make a big deal out of it but I don't think Chennai does. I think Chennai just moves on and they understand they can just fill some pieces... Chennai are so pragmatic about things that they just say, 'OK we are missing a good bowler but we'll replace him with this, this and this and off we go.' I think they are one of the few teams that can survive spending 14 crore on a player and just moving on. That's Chennai which is an amazing place to be."
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Chahar, a new-ball specialist, has picked up 10 or more wickets in each of the last four seasons. His ability to swing the ball on Mumbai's green pitches and change the momentum with early blows would be hard to replace.
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"They'll have to reconfigure their overseas bowlers" - Daniel Vettori on solution to Deepak Chahar's absence
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Daniel Vettori also acknowledged that irrespective of how CSK take it, losing Chahar would be a "huge loss" for them. He feels the defending champions shouldn't replace Cahar with a domestic bowler. The former New Zealand spinner instead wants CSK to rejig their overseas combination to accommodate one of New Zealand's Adam Milne and England's Chris Jordan.
He said:
"If he does (miss some games), it's a huge loss. I think they'll have to reconfigure their overseas bowlers and [see] whether Adam Milne can get a game or Chris Jordan as well - those two overseas bowlers could be the two that can potentially come in and whether that means someone like [Devon] Conway missed out and they've to bring [Robin] Uthappa in... But I don't think they can replace him with a domestic bowler, they need to replace him with an international bowler."
Considering their combination last year, CSK are likely to play one of Milne and Jordan even with Chahar available. Adding another overseas pacer would mean either picking Robin Uthappa over Devon Conway or an Indian all-rounder over DJ Bravo.
They will play their first match of the season against the Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26.