The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the itinerary for the sixteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) a few days back. IPL 2023 is all set to kick off on 31 March with a match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT). The four-time champions will be eager to bury the horrors of IPL 2022 and start afresh when the new season kicks off.
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CSK's bowling lineup will be bolstered with the return of their star pacer Deepak Chahar who has announced that he is fully fit and is ready to grab his chances. Chahar, who missed the entire IPL season last year and also could only play 15 international games for India, has said that although it took him a long time to recover, he is now ready to roar.
"I working hard for the past two three months on my fitness, I am fully fit and preparing well for the IPL," PTI quoted Chahar as saying. "I had two big injures. One was stress fracture and one was quad grade 3 tear. They are both are very big injuries. You are out for months. Anyone who comes back after the injury it takes time, especially for the fast bowlers.
"If I was a batter I would be playing way back long but as a fast bowler, when you have a stress fracture, it is very tough to get back on track. You can see other bowlers struggling with the back as well," the right-arm pacer added.
Not just IPL, Chahar is also eyeing a place in India’s ODI World Cup squad and is looking to play in the Asia Cup 2023 as well. When asked if he is worried about his spot in the playing XI, Chahar said that these are secondary things for him and he only focuses on performance.
"I have lived by one rule all my life. If I am fully bowling the way I want, if I am batting the way I want, there is no stopping me. That was the basic rule with which I started my career," Chahar continued. "I don't care who is playing, who is not playing, my motive is to get fully fit and perform with the ball and bat 100 per cent. If I do that, I will get my chances," he added.
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