Chennai Super Kings fast-bowler Deepak Chahar has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League 2022 entirely due to back injury. The unfortunate development was confirmed on April 15 by the player via a statement on his official Twitter handle in a major blow to the four-time IPL champions.
“Sorry guys unfortunately I will be missing out this season of IPL due to an injury. Really wanted to play but I will come back better and stronger like I always have. Thanks for always supporting me,”
the right-arm swing bowler wrote.
While Chahar didn’t mention he is carrying a back injury, ESPNcricinfo reported, that is indeed the reason why he is skipping IPL 2022 in its entirety. The back injury was discovered at the National Cricket Academy, where he had initially gone to recover from a quadriceps tear, which he had picked up in February during a T20I series versus the West Indies.
Initial assessments of his quadriceps injury had promised Chahar’s late entry into the CSK camp for IPL 2022. The physios at NCA had suggested that the pacer could be available to play from late April after missing the initial few weeks of the tournament. But the plan had to change after they also detected a back issue
It is understood that the Indian team management led by coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma don’t want to take any chances with Chahar’s back injury in what is a T20 World Cup year. With his new-ball exploits and swing, the 29-year-old quick is an understated part of India’s white-ball set-up.
It is Chahar’s powerplay exploits and his handy lower-order batting capabilities that earned him a hefty pay-day at the mega auction in Bangalore this February. The pacer went for a whopping INR 14 crores, becoming CSK’s most expensive pick at the bidding war.
Chahar has been instrumental for CSK with his new-ball bowling, taking 42 wickets at an economy rate of 7.61 inside powerplay overs for his team. He bagged 14 wickets in CSK’s revival season last year in UAE, where they lifted their fourth IPL title.
