"Needed a detox from cricket" - Deepak Chahar opens up on his struggles with injuries
Team India's bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar recently stated that he has regained his full fitness and is all set to make his much-awaited return in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Chahar mentioned that he has worked hard on his fitness over the last few months. He suggested that traveling to Rishikesh and practicing yoga and meditation has helped him a lot.
The right-arm pacer also emphasized the importance of taking a break, given that the cricketing calendars have become very hectic. Chahar made these remarks while speaking to Sports Tak on Thursday, February 23.
"I am fully fit now," he said. "I have worked hard on my fitness in the past one-and-a-half months. I went to Rishikesh, where I did a lot of yoga and meditation along with training. Everybody needs this time to go back to the basics. I needed a detox from cricket, as there was a lot of cricket throughout the year. Every player wants some time to focus on himself and his body."
Deepak Chahar also spoke about being on the sidelines last year due to multiple injuries. He highlighted that he suffered major injuries like a stress fracture in the back and a quadricep tear.
The 30-year-old all-rounder from Rajasthan also stressed that such injuries take a lot of time to heal, especially for a fast bowler.
"Last year was quite a disappointing one for me as I suffered two major injuries," he added. "I had a stress fracture in my back, which is the worst injury for a fast bowler because everything is related to the back. Then there was a quad grade 3. It takes a lot of time to recover from these two injuries.
"When a bowler bowls, he has to take eight to nine times the weight of his body. So if I weigh 80 kg, my back has to take around 700 kg of weight for each ball. This is why it took a lot of time for me to recover. I would have been fully fit much earlier if I was a batter or a spinner. But now I am fit and hope to make a good comeback in the IPL."
Notably, Chahar returned to India's white-ball team in August 2022 following a long injury-enforced hiatus. However, he twisted his ankle in October and has been absent from the national team since then.
"It is going to be an important season" - Deepak Chahar on donning the CSK jersey in IPL 2023
Deepak Chahar was re-signed by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a whopping ₹14 crore at the IPL mega-auction in 2022. Despite being ruled out from the last season, the franchise has retained him for the forthcoming edition.
Chahar acknowledged that it was a forgettable campaign for CSK last year. He stated that the side failed to identify the right combination, as they had spent a lot of money on him but he wasn't available to play.
"Last year wasn't a good one for CSK. When you invest so much money in a player, you build the team around him. But when that player isn't there, it's difficult to get the right combination at times. This is why we struggled in the initial matches. It is going to be an important season."
CSK failed to make it to the playoffs in the previous season of the cash-rich league, finishing in the penultimate position. The four-time champions managed to secure just four wins from 14 matches. With a new season looming large and back at their fortress at Chepauk, they will hope to bounce back this year.
The MS Dhoni-led side will lock horns with defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in the opening fixture of IPL 2023. The match will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 31.