I think it’s time to look at Deepak Chahar in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar – Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar reckons it is time to give more opportunities to Deepak Chahar in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has looked insipid in his performances in the recent past.

Kumar hasn’t been at his best as he went wicketless in the first ODI against South Africa and also conceded 64 runs in his 10 overs.

Furthermore, the experienced seamer conceded 67 runs in eight overs in the second ODI at the same venue against the Proteas and once again went wicketless.

On the other hand, Deepak Chahar has impressed with his skills as he can get the ball to move both ways in the powerplay overs. Moreover, Chahar can deliver the goods while batting down the order and had played a match-winning knock in Sri Lanka in 2021.

Chahar finally got his chance in the final XI of the team as Bhuvneshwar Kumar was dropped after the visitors made as many as four changes to their side in the third ODI against South Africa. The swing master was straight away able to create the impact as he accounted for Janneman Malan.

Gavaskar said: “I think it’s time to look at Deepak Chahar now. He is younger, pretty much the same kind of bowler and bats handily down the order.”

“Bhuvi has been a tremendous servant of Indian cricket but in the last year or so, even in franchise level T20 cricket, he has been expensive. Not so much at the start of the innings but towards the end. He used to bowl those brilliant yorkers and slower deliveries, but those are not working anymore. That can happen, the opposition is studying you all the time and they will know how to be prepared for it. So maybe it is time to look at somebody else.”

Deepak Chahar has impressed with his skills while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and swing has been his strength.

On the other hand, South Africa took an assailable lead of 2-0 in the three-match series and former spinner Imran Tahir listed the reason behind India’s series defeat.

“I don’t judge any team but India is a very good side and this South African team is just growing up and India misjudged them and they were overconfident that they can defeat this team easily and this is the main reason for Indian side defeat.”

“India dominating world cricket in Test and one day both from last 4 to 5 years but this Proteas team played very well and they took good advantage of their home conditions and turned it into victory,” explained Tahir while speaking to ANI.