Four-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, would resonate with this dialogue from the Indian romance-drama movie Masaan. The team has suffered another blow in the 15th edition of Indian Premier League. Their premium fast bowler Deepak Chahar has been ruled out of the competition.
Chahar had injured his right quadriceps while bowling his second over in the 3rd match of the India’s T20I series against West Indies, played in Feb 2022. Chahar was unable to even finish the over and had to leave the field.
Since then, he has been rehabbing at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. It was being expected that Deepak Chahar will join the CSK squad midway through the tournament. However a new back injury means that Chahar will be out of action for another four months.
Earlier, Chahar was signed by CSK for a whopping INR 14 crores in the IPL 2022 auctions. He has been the go-to new ball bowler of CSK for a long time now, and his absence will definitely hurt the franchise.
Infact in the 5 matches CSK have played so far, it is already evident that they are missing Deepak Chahar, especially in the powerplay overs. It won’t be easy for CSK to find his substitute since he belongs to the rare breed of fast bowling all-rounders.
3 Pacers CSK can pick as potential replacements of Deepak Chahar in IPL 2022
#3 Dhawal Kulkarni
Veteran pacer Dhawal Kulkarni registered himself for the IPL 2022 auctions at a base price of INR 75 Lakhs. Unfortunately, he didn’t attract a bid from any of the 10 teams. Kulkarni is currently a part of Hindi and Marathi commentary team of Star Sports for IPL 2022.
The right-arm pacer is one of the most under-rated IPL players. He has played 92 IPL matches and picked 86 wickets at a strike rate of 20.78. Kulkarni has represented three franchises- Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Lions. Considering Chennai’s liking for experienced players, Kulkarni can be a good addition to the squad.
#2 Arzan Nagwaswalla
Left-arm fast bowler Arzan Nagwaswalla registered himself for the IPL 2022 auctions at a base price of INR 20 Lakhs. However, he couldn’t find any buyers. The youngster has travelled with the Team India on many tours in the recent past.
Nagwaswalla has picked 28 wickets in 20 T20 matches so far, at an excellent economy of 6.9. Chennai Super Kings can look towards Nagwaswalla if they want another left-arm pacer in their squad.
1. Sandeep Warrier
Sandeep Warrier was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2019 for a base price of Rs 20 lakhs. He has played five IPL matches in his career so far. However, Warrier has great experience playing for Kerala in the domestic T20 Cricket.
He has played 63 T20 games and picked 59 wickets at a strike rate of 22.7 and economy rate of 7.28. Sandeep Warrier also got a chance to make his international debut during India’s tour of Sri Lanka in July last year. His addition in the squad can add some pace in the CSK bowling department which seems to be lacking at the moment.
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