Deepak Chahar likely to miss Sri Lanka T20Is due to hamstring concern

Indian fast bowler Deepak Chahar will in all likelihood sit out of the upcoming home T20I series against Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury. Chahar suffered a pull to his right hamstring while bowling in the third and final T20I match against the West Indies on February 20. The right-arm seamer opened the bowling for India and struck in both his first and second over. However, he had to limp off the field after tottering in his run-up in the last delivery of his second over.

While the extent of Chahar’s injury is yet to be ascertained, the bowler appeared to be in quite a bit of pain even needing assistance to be taken off the field. Fortunately for India, Chahar’s absence did not cause too much of a hindrance as they managed to win the game by a comfortable margin of 17 runs and win the series 3-0, with the other bowlers in their attack stepping up.

Nervous times ahead for the Chennai Super Kings

A grade one tear, which reportedly Chahar has got, could usually take up to six weeks for it to be completely recuperated. If that ends up being the case for Chahar, he could well miss out on at least the initial few weeks of the Indian Premier League as well, a report on India Today read.

The 29-year-old was recently bought by the Chennai Super Kings for a whopping INR 14 crore in the recently concluded IPL mega auction. If he is out of the game for a long period, it could cause a big jolt to the franchise’s plans.

As far as the national team’s next assignment is concerned, Chahar, who is slowly turning out to be an integral part of India’s bowling attack in the shortest format of the game, is in all certainty a doubtful starter for the series against Sri Lanka. The first of the three T20Is is to be played in Lucknow on February 24th. The three-match T20I series would then be followed by two Test matches.