Chennai: The postponement of the IPL due to the pandemic has come as a blessing in disguise for India medium-pacer Deepak Chahar as the delay has given him time to regain full fitness from his lower-back injury.
Chahar sustained a stress fracture on his lower back midway through the ODI series against the West Indies in December last year, which ruled him out of action until the end of March.
“When things are not in your control, there is little you can do. So, I focus on what I can do during that time. I am trying to learn new things, focus on my fitness — as you know I was injured and getting back. This gives me more time to recover,” the 27-year-old was quoted as saying on Chennai Super King’s official website.
He admitted that he would have missed CSK’s first few games if the IPL 2020 had started as scheduled on March 29.
“Had the IPL season started on time, I would have missed the first few matches,” said Chahar, whose six for 7 (including a hat-trick) against Bangladesh last year was declared the ICC T20I performance of the year.
The IPL 2020, which was scheduled to be played from March 29, has been suspended till April 15 with no clarity yet on whether it would go ahead at all.
Chahar said it is a difficult time for all but the need of the hour is to stay safe and positive. “It is obviously a difficult time for all of us, everything coming to a standstill. Loss of business and jobs, especially for daily wage workers.
“Be safe, learn something new now that you have time. Stay positive, stay in the time.”