[Watch] “I hope I get to use my bats this year” – Deepak Chahar spends quality time in nets ahead of IPL 2024
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Deepak Chahar, who was retained for ₹14 crore, is keen to deliver with the bat in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
On Wednesday (March 13), the right-handed batter shared a video on Instagram, where he was seen practicing his shots in the net session. Chahar captioned the post:
“I hope I get to use my bats this year."
For the unversed, Deepak Chahar has scored two half-centuries for India in ODIs. The 31-year-old has also registered two and four fifties in the first-class and List-A cricket, respectively. He, however, has managed just 80 runs in 13 innings at an average of 11.43 in IPL.
It’s worth mentioning that Chahar is known for his exceptional bowling skills in the cash-rich league. The medium pacer has bagged 72 wickets in 73 IPL games at an economy rate of 7.93. Last year, he picked up 13 wickets in 10 matches.
“This is the right time for me” – Deepak Chahar on his return to competitive cricket since December 2023
Deepak Chahar is keen to deliver as an all-rounder for CSK on his return to competitive cricket after recovering from a hamstring injury. He was recently quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo:
"This is the right time for me or any athlete… when you get one-and-a-half months or two months, you need to gain strength. If you gain strength you increase your pace as well.”
Chahar added:
"When I played in 2018, I was nearly bowling around 140ks. When you're playing regularly you don't get the chance to do strength training and your pace comes down. This is the right time for me to increase my pace."
He concluded:
"Skill-wise, I've obviously been doing well with batting and bowling. So I'm trying to develop a few shots with the bat too, because when you bat at No. 8 or No. 9, you only get to play three-four balls. So you have to utilize those balls with different shots."
Defending champions CSK will begin their IPL 2024 campaign against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 22.