Deepak Chahar in action. (BCCI)India seamer Deepak Chahar made a successful return to international cricket after a six month injury lay-off when he picked up 3/27 against Zimbabwe in the first ODI in Harare on Thursday. Chahar was duly adjudged as the ‘Player of The Match’ but the 30-year-old revealed that he had done a lot of work skill-wise to match that level of performance during the pre-injury period.
When asked if his performance can open the doors for a spit in the T20 World Cup squad the right-arm pacer said, “I can’t say if I will be selected or not as that’s not in my hands but skill wise I have worked very hard.
“I think I have picked up from where I had left and today also barring first two overs, I bowled well. I bowled seven overs at one go, which indicates that my fitness levels are okay,” Chahar said while addressing a press conference after the match.
“My plan remains simple, when the ball is swinging try to bowl fuller length and take wickets. If the ball isn’t swinging, then there is a plan ‘B’ or ‘C’. Today, it was swinging till the seventh over that I was bowling. So it was simple — bowl a fuller length and mix the swing and confuse the batter,” he said.
“I knew I will make my comeback in this series, which is an ODI series, so I started loading my body accordingly. The day I started bowling, I bowled six overs and then when I played 2-3 practice games, I bowled full quota of 10 overs,” Chahar said.
Speaking on the return to the side after a long-layoff , Chahar admitted that the road has been tough and said, “Difficulty was there. Because you are trying to regain your place in the side and in the interim, people who played have also performed and consolidated their places.
“So in order to regain your spot, you have to put up a good performance, Obviously pressure was there and I wanted to perform at the first opportunity because that’s all what a player can control,” he said.
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