Deepak Chahar reveals what response he got after he asked MS Dhoni to let him bowl in death overs

MS Dhoni is known for his calmness and the ability to judge true cricketing talent. In this skill set, there are very few captains who can match his competency. This is one of the reasons which have made him so successful in international and domestic cricket. When it comes to spotting talent, grooming their skills, and backing them, Dhoni has proved himself as the best.

Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli and many other foreign players like Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson have been backed by Dhoni and this list goes on. The new emerging player in this list is Deepak Chahar, the frontline pacer of Chennai Super Kings.

Chahar’s debut in Ranji Trophy was marvellous as he picked 8/20 against Hyderabad in Jaipur. But due to a serious injury, he had to fizzle out. It was Dhoni who believed in Chahar and got him into Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL 2016, groomed him and then took him to CSK. Realizing his talent, Chahar became one the best-attacking pacer with a new ball for CSK and came into limelight.

Chahar was one of the best performers for CSK. Having 22 wickets in 17 matches at an economy rate of 7.63 is something to admire. His consistency in IPL and India A, helped him to gain his international cap and now he has become one of the frontline bowlers for India in the T20 format.

The ability to swing the ball in both the direction is the major weapon of Chahar and considering this, Dhoni completed his spell at one go in a lot of matches. In a recent interview with cricketer-turned-commentator Akash Chopra, Chahar revealed that he wanted to bowl at death overs as he can bowl over 140kph, but Dhoni did not give him many opportunities.

Dhoni prefers those who are good in all departments: Deepak Chahar

Further in the interview, the right-arm pacer said “So I asked the bowling coach a couple of times, he also said I should be bowled in the death overs. Finally, I gathered some courage and asked Mahi Bhai when he was sitting in a room and he gave me a two-word answer. He said, ‘I groom players’ and that’s it. He didn’t say anything else. I was speechless”

Later, when former Chopra asked him that why he is backed so much by Dhoni, Chahar responded, “I think Dhoni prefers those who are good in all departments. He likes those who can contribute in batting bowling and fielding. A bowler can have a bad day but he can change a match by grabbing a good catch or can win the batch with a six or a four.

If you look at our team, we have many players who are good in every department. T20 is a format that requires you to do everything. There are a lot of teams in the IPL which have a strong batting line-up or a strong bowling attack but they remain dependent on a few cricketers. If they do well, they end up winning you matches single-handedly but if they don’t, the team struggles.”

Chahar was found positive with Covid-19 at the end of last month, but now the Swinger has joined the CSK practice session after recovering from the virus. He is all set to bowl with the new ball in the very first match of IPL 2020 against Mumbai Indians.