Deepak Chahar, India’s T20 Specialist, Needs Five More Weeks To Attain Complete Fitness

India's T20 specialist Deepak Chahar will take four to five more weeks to completely recover from the hamstring injury, which had kept him out of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. (More Cricket News)

Pacer Chahar and another centrally contracted cricketer Washington Sundar, recovering from a hand injury, are currently doing their rehabilitation at NCA along with the likes of T Natarajan.

In another significant development, spin all-rounder Washington is set to fly to England to play for leading county side Lancashire.

“Washington is nearing full fitness and he needs a lot of game time, which he will get only in red-ball cricket. He is going to play for Lancashire and this exposure will do him a world of good,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Chahar, who sustained an injury during the home series against West Indies in Kolkata, looked in good shape during his morning session at the NCA.

“I am bowling four to five overs at one go as per my rehab programme right now. My recovery is going pretty well and I think it will take another four to five weeks for me to get match fit,” Chahar told PTI after his rehab session.

The Rajasthan seamer admitted that it will not be possible for him to get fit by the time India play T20 series against England in the second week of July.

“It's a step-by-step process as far as recovery is concerned. I don't think I will be fit for England T20s. Once I am match fit, I will need to play some club-level games to check my fitness,” Chahar said. He looked very comfortable when he batted for a considerable amount of time.

So, can one expect that he will be fit for the tour of West Indies? “I can't say that but I will definitely try and get fit by then. Let's see,” the swing bowler said. India are scheduled to play three ODIs and five T20I between July 22 and August 7 in West Indies.