Deepak Chahar missed the tour of South Africa and the T20 series against Afghanistan due to his father’s health issues. Team India pacer Deepak Chahar decided to skip the ODI matches of the South African tour after his father Lokendrasingh Chahar suffered a brain stroke.
The 31-year-old pacer was part of the ODI and T20I side for the tour but withdrew his name from the 50-over squad, due to personal emergency reasons. India drew the T20I series by 1-1, followed by the ODIs series win by a 2-1 margin.
T20 World Cup is to be jointly hosted by the USA and West Indies in June. India will not play any more T20Is until the World Cup in June. The CSK (Chennai Super Kings) pacer’s only chance to make the squad is through the IPL, which is starting on March end.
For me, my father comes first. I am here only because of him: Deepak Chahar
“After that I went to the NCA. I started my practice again and now I am fully fit. Everything is good. I trained really hard for the IPL and the World Cup.”
Chahar said there is extra motivation for him to push for his case for selection, given that he has missed the last two T20 World Cups due to injuries.
“I have missed two [T20] World Cups because of my injuries,” he said.”If I was fully fit, I would have been a part of the World Cup team as well. In any scenario or any team combination, there is always a requirement for a bowler who can bat at Nos. 7, 8, 9. I have done that and scored runs for the Indian team.”
“If the series was in India, then I would have surely tried to play. You can come to the hospital if you need within 4-5 hours. But obviously, from South Africa, it takes 2-3 days to come back. “It was an easy decision to be with my father. Any son would do that”, he added.
“I was with my father in the hospital for 25 days. He was admitted in Aligarh. We all had to stay there,” he said. “I was only able to do some exercises. I was not able to do any cricketing activities. That’s why I was not ready for the Afghanistan series. I had not practised for a month or so”, he continued. Chahar went to the NCA (National Cricket Academy) to work on his fitness as he eyes a spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad.
“After that I went to the NCA. I started my practice again and now I am fully fit. Everything is good. I trained really hard for the IPL and the World Cup.”
Chahar has missed the last two T20 World Cups due to injuries too.
“I have missed two [T20] World Cups because of my injuries,” he said. “If I was fully fit, I would have been a part of the World Cup team as well. In any scenario or any team combination, there is always a requirement for a bowler who can bat at Nos. 7, 8, 9. I have done that and scored runs for the Indian team.”
