'I could have made comeback 2-3 weeks ago if I wanted: Deepak Chahar

Indian pacer Deepak Chahar has revealed that he could’ve made his comeback from injury in the ongoing T20I series against West Indies but decided against risking another injury.

Deepak Chahar has been missing from the action since sustaining a hamstring injury in February earlier this year. The right arm pacer was slated to make his return in this year’s IPL but was ruled out from the entire tournament after suffering a back injury.

The 29-year-old will be making his comeback in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, commencing on 18th August. After his selection in the squad, Chahar revealed that he could’ve made his comeback in the ongoing series against the Windies but opted against it since he wasn’t at his 100% and did not want to underperform on his return to the side.

“If I wanted, I could have made a comeback 2-3 weeks ago only. I could have played the T20 series against West Indies. But then, my thought process was that whenever you play, you give your 110 percent. Don’t even play at 99 percent. I believe I should be able to perform better than the time before I got injured,” Chahar said to News24.

I’ve always worked on my game whenever I got injured: Deepak Chahar

The Uttar Pradesh-born cricketer last featured for the Men in Blues in the T20I series against West Indies in India in February and looked in fine form before being marred by unfortunate injuries. He recalled his time on the sidelines and stated that during those times, he always worked on his basics and tried to improve his game by weeding out weaknesses.

“I’ve had a lot of injuries in the past. But I have always believed that whenever you get injured, it gives you time to get back to basics. If you have any weaknesses, it gives you time to work on them. I’ve always worked on my game whenever I got injured,” Chahar added.

Chahar’s name has been thrown in contention to make it to the squad for the Asia Cup later this month, but the resurgence of Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has pushed Chahar down the pecking order in white ball cricket.