ANALYSIS
Follow UsOff the final ball of the third over against West Indies in February, Deepak Chahar pulled up in his delivery stride and clutched his hamstring. While he was down on the ground, the Indian physio was quick to attend to the speedster; the extent of the injury was unknown as he walked off the field with the help of some support.
While the Indian players and the fans at the Eden Gardens were visibly tense at the visuals of Chahar limping off the field, there was a particularly tense franchise waiting eagerly for an update of their highest-paid player in the mega auctions a week earlier.
Well, you guessed it right, we are talking about the then-defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, who pulled all their muscle and managed to get their most valuable new-ball bowler back in their ranks.
And their worst nightmare came true as Chahar was ruled out of the first half of the Indian Premier League. While the whistle podu fans were eagerly waiting for their Cherry to don the yellow jersey, another news rocked the franchise as he suffered a back injury while undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy.
It has been over six months, and Chahar is now finally back in the Indian colours. While the series against Zimbabwe is inconsequential for most fans, for Chahar, these three games are a stepping stone for him to prove his fitness ahead of the T20 World Cup.
While it was a very rare clash between the two sides, do not underestimate Zimbabwe as they have been on red-hot form heading into this series.
With KL Rahul winning the toss and opting to field first, all eyes were on Chahar as India took centre stage on a hot day in Harare. Despite starting with a full toss to mark his comeback, Chahar was quick to get his length back and create doubts in the mind of the opening batters.
While he bowled a probing line and length for a large part of his first spell, with some swing, the 30-year-old was elated when he scalped the wicket of Innocent Kaia on the fourth delivery of the seventh over of the innings.
For a player struggling with a back injury, Chahar bowled a short-pitched delivery to get the better of Kaia for a painful 20-ball 4. He followed it up with the wicket of Tadiwanashe Marumani, who managed to faint edge behind the stumps to give India and Chahar their second wicket.
The hosts had just 31 on the board when they lost their openers and then Sean Williams fell to Siraj at the end of the powerplay when Chahar was asked to bowl his sixth over of the first spell.
If there were any doubts about the fitness revolving around the pacer and his ability to go full throttle, it was all silenced as he was steaming in on a scorching day, making the ball do the talking.
And on the first delivery of the 11th over, he bowled an absolute peach to catch Wessely Madhevere plumb in front of the wicket and derail Zimbabwe's batting unit.
In a spell of seven overs, Chahar conceded 27 runs and scalped three wickets; however, what is more heartening is the fact that he was unscathed through his overs which is one of the biggest positives for the Men in Blue heading into a massive last four months of international cricket.
Can Chahar break into the side for the T20 World Cup?
And the reason we say his form is vital for the Indian side is the Asia Cup scheduled to commence in the next ten days and a couple of high-voltage series against South Africa and Australia at home before the T20 World Cup Down Under.
While he is on the list of reserves for the Asia Cup, the Indian selectors will keep a close eye on his progress, and his exploits in the coming two games and the matches to follow will hold him in good stead for a potential call-up to the side for the upcoming series.
With the rise of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in recent times, the veteran pacer is well ahead of Chahar in the pecking order, but there is one thing that works in favour of the Chennai Super Kings bowlers are his batting credentials.
In the last three ODIs before this match, Chahar registered scores of unbeaten 69, 54 and 38, highlighting his potential with the bat lower down the order.
While it is too early to gauge his impact with the bat in the shortest format, his numbers in ODIs are encouraging to say the least and can tilt the team management to having him as one of the options Down Under later this season.
Well, only time will tell how Chahar shapes up and the way ahead for him in the shortest format, but as fans, his return donning the national colours and charging in with the new ball is a sight to behold.
