“Reached Hospital On Time, Else It Could…”: Deepak Chahar On Father’s Medical Emergency

India pacer Deepak Chahar missed the 5th and final T20I against Australia despite only returning to action in the 4th T20I of the same series. India’s interim skipper Suryakumar Yadav revealed a ‘medical emergency’ to be the reason behind Chahar’s 11th-hour pull out from the series. Though Chahar has been named for India’s T20I assignment against South Africa, it isn’t yet known whether he will be able to join his teammates in the Rainbow Nation. Opening up on the situation, Chahar revealed that his father has been admitted to the hospital but he isn’t in a position to leave him and fly to South Africa yet.

“We got him to the hospital on time. Else, it could have been dangerous. His condition is better at the moment. People were asking, why I didn’t play the final T20I against Australia. For me, my father is very important. He made me the player I am. I cannot leave him in this condition and couldn’t go anywhere,” Chahar told Sports Tak when asked about his absence from the 5th T20I.

“That’s why I am staying with my father and once he is out of danger, I will start my journey to South Africa. I have talked to Rahul (Dravid) sir and the selectors. Right now, my father’s condition is better,” the seamer revealed.

With Chahar’s participation unclear, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn’t yet named his replacement for the T20I series against the Proteas. Chahar has been a fine performer for India whenever he has been called upon but has struggled with injuries on many occasions.

He would be keen to get a consistent run in the team and feature in next year’s T20 World Cup squad.

India’s T20 squad vs South Africa:Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Deepak Chahar