Deepak Chahar


Deepak Lokendrasingh Chahar is an Indian cricketer. He is a right hand medium-pace bowler and lower-order batsman, who plays for Rajasthan in domestic cricket and Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. He became the first Indian male cricketer to take a hat-trick in a Twenty20 International. In January 2020, Chahar was awarded with the T20I Performance of the Year by the International Cricket Council, after taking six wickets for seven runs against Bangladesh.

Early life and family

Chahar was born in 1992 in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. His father, Lokendra is retired from the Indian Air Force. He was raised alongside his cousin, fellow cricketer Rahul Chahar who is sometimes referred to as his brother.

Domestic career

He picked up figures of 8/10 on his first-class debut against Hyderabad at Jaipur in the first game of the 2010-11 Ranji Trophy season. Hyderabad were bundled out for 21 runs which is the lowest total ever in Ranji Trophy history. Chahar's impressive swing bowling soon earned him a youth contract with Rajasthan Royals.
In October 2016, he worked with International cricket coaches Ian Pont and Catherine Dalton in Jaipur as part of Rajasthan Cricket's development camp. It was here he made significant improvements to his confidence and control, which has led him to becoming a great Power Play specialist.
In January 2018, he was bought by the Chennai Super Kings in the 2018 IPL auction. In October 2018, he was named in India B's squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy.

International career

In May 2018, he was named in India's Twenty20 International squad for the series against England. He made his T20I debut for India on 8 July 2018. In his debut match against England he dismissed Jason Roy. He was also the second bowler after Siddarth Kaul to make his debut in this UK tour. He made his One Day International debut for India against Afghanistan on 25 September 2018 during 2018 Asia Cup.
He was selected on 21 July 2019 in the T20 squad for India against the West Indies commencing 3 August. He played against West Indies in the final match of the series and won the player of the match award with figure of 3/4.
He was subsequently selected for the three-match T20I series against Bangaldesh. He played a prominent role in winning the series against Bangladesh in the final match. He took the best bowling figures in T20Is, with six wickets for seven runs from 3.2 overs. He also took the first hat-trick by a bowler for India and his first five-wicket haul in T20Is. He won the Player of the match award for the final match and also the Player of the series award.