Indian fast bowler Deepak Chahar who was going to replace Jasprit Bumrah in India's Men's T20 World Cup 2022 squad, is reportedly out of the tournament.
The 30-year-old suffered from back and hip ailments and is unlikely to recover in time for the whole tournament.
Chahar recently played in a three-match T20I series against South Africa, where he only took one wicket but produced a brilliant 31-run knock in the last game. He was supposed to play in the next ODI series but could not because of injury.
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The pacer was flown to Bangalore's National Cricket Academy (NCA), where his injury was evaluated. According to reports by the local media, Chahar will not be fit in time for the T20 World Cup in 2022.
Deepak Chahar was one of the four players from India on the standby list. The other three were Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, and Deepak Hooda.
Since Chahar and Bumrah are both injured and can't play, the national selection committee is said to be planning to put Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur in India's backup team.
Siraj and Thakur both played in the ODI series against South Africa that just finished. In those three games, Siraj took five wickets and Thakur took three wickets and scored 33 runs in the first ODI.
Both fast bowlers are expected to travel to Australia soon, along with Shami, who has emerged as the clear favourite to fill the open position in India's squad.