India all-rounder Deepak Chahar has given memorable performances for the country in his budding international career. Chahar became the first-ever Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in T20Is and picked 6/7 in the same match against Bangladesh, the best bowling figure for an Indian.
The pace-bowling all-rounder recently scored a match-winning half-century against Sri Lanka in an ODI and proved himself to be capable with the bat as well. He revealed that the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise (RPS) had picked him as a batting all-rounder in IPL 2016.
“When I was chosen for Pune in the IPL, (Stephen) Fleming Sir had actually selected me as a batting all-rounder, not a bowling all-rounder. During the first trial game, I scored 48 or 49. The next day, he promoted me to one-down and I scored a half-century. That’s how I was selected in the Pune team,” Deepak Chahar told Chopra on the latter’s YouTube channel.
He said that he wanted to become a proper all-rounder because MS Dhoni, his captain at RPS and Chennai Super King (CSK) values skills in all departments.
“After Pune, I came to CSK. MS Dhoni likes players who can contribute in all departments. In 2018, he sent me ahead of himself in one of the games and I made 40-odd in 19-20 balls. But after that I didn’t get to bat much. I have been working on my batting since 2014 as there is too much competition in bowling. If you contribute with the bat, it gives you an edge during selection,” Deepak Chahar further added.
Chahar has been picked as one of the reserve players for the T20 World Cup 2021.
