ZIM vs IND 2022, 1st ODI | When playing an international game after so long, you are always nervous, reveals Deepak Chahar

08/18/2022

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Deepak Chahar has stated he was a bit nervous about making his India comeback after a long time on the sidelines through injury, revealing he faced difficulties in executing his plans. The pacer was clinical nonetheless and snared a three-wicket haul to put his team on the path to victory.

Deepak Chahar looked like he had never left on his team India return in the first ODI against Zimbabwe, producing a new-ball clinic to win himself the man of the match honours. The right-arm pacer registered three scalps to his name in an opening burst of seven overs with the new ball in which he made the ball swing every which way. He ended up with figures of 7-0-27-3, pushing India to bowl out the hosts for 189 thus ensuring a 10-wicket victory courtesy of Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan's fifties.

Chahar had last played for India in February against the West Indies and looked to be in fettle until he sustained an injury. That was his last professional match before Wednesday having also missed the entire season of the Indian Premier League. The 30-year-old admitted to being impacted by the nerves and feeling the pressure to perform well.

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"When you are playing an international game after six and a half months, you are always nervous. Before coming here I played four-five practice games. But playing for the country, you wanted to do well and the mind and the body were not working together," he was quoted saying by ESPN Cricinfo.

Despite his success, the pacer has revealed he struggled to bowl the way he wanted due to facing issues with his foot grip. Chahar's feet were constantly shown to be slipping while landing on the crease, which he feels impacted his performance.

"The landing area was a little hard and my nails were not going in and were slippy."

"That ball I wanted to bowl a bouncer and the spikes didn't go through and I slipped," Chahar added.