Former Indian selector Devang Gandhi has on Thursday (July 22) picked Deepak Chahar ahead of someone like Shardul Thakur for India in the T20I cricket, given his ability to swing the ball.
Chahar has been receiving applauds for his batting exploits in the second ODI in Colombo, where the right-hander scored 69 off 82 balls, as well as, involved in an unbeaten 84-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar to help India beat Sri Lanka by three wickets on Tuesday (July 20).
Following his match-winning knock, the 28-year-old has been seen as a potential all-rounder for the Indian cricket team, whereas Thakur has already impressed many with his batting on the Australia tour earlier this year. He was also impressive in the home series against England.
However, both the seamers proved their credentials as an all-rounder, but Gandhi has put his weight behind Chahar over Shardul when it comes to T20I cricket keeping in mind his primary skill – bowling.
Gandhi told The Telegraph, “Death bowling has been his concern, but he’s looking to address it. The focus should be on the primary skill, which is Deepak’s bowling. Now if he can keep batting well, it will of course be a boost to India’s lower order. However, in T20Is, Deepak will be my first choice, especially when compared to someone like Shardul Thakur, because he can swing the ball.”
Meanwhile, Chahar's first captain at the first-class level Hrishikesh Kanitkar revealed that the pacer always took his batting seriously and even his father also said the same thing.
Kanitkar signed off by saying, “He used to bowl so well throughout that nobody really paid much attention to his batting. I’m not surprised because right from the beginning, I’ve seen him bat well and with seriousness. His ability was always there, but he used his mind very well in Tuesday’s game, which was very important, and played a mature inning.”
