"There was only one thing running through my mind: the kind of innings you dream of, when you start playing cricket and start batting. One day I will bat for India - bat at 7,8 - And will finish the match. There can be no better way for the country to win the match.
It was Deepak Chahar after the second ODI against Sri Lanka. Batting at number 8, he scored his highest score in senior cricket and ended the match.
The most remarkable thing about Chahar's innings was not the quantity of his score. Not that he went from 2 out of 18, to 23 out of 45, to his final score of 69* out of 82. It wasn't even that he wanted to turn a batting dream into reality. This is how he tackled the 48th over of the chase, when Vanindu Hasaranga was brought back. Chahar faced the last four balls of the over, requiring 15 off 16 balls, and did not try to score any of them. With the match being in the final stages, the kind of batsman who can play a dangerous bowler, when practically a ball is required, is not often found at No. Such batsmen usually sit in the top half, secure in their skills and in their belief that they can win against other bowlers, even those with a strong equation.
"His presence of mind, his calculations... even the last four overs he knew he didn't want to go against the legspinner," skipper Shikhar Dhawan praised after the match.
Chahar scored 160 for 6 and 193 for 7 but his restraint was that of a top-order batsman. When in partnership with Kunal Pandya, he played himself. He allowed the more pedigree batsman to score more. In his match-winning stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chahar effortlessly became the senior partner. In the beginning, he continued to throw the ball here and there. The fast pace set by India's top order meant that Chahar had enough time without worrying about big hits. By the time the boundaries became necessary, he was "in" as he was going to be. With 56 needed from eight overs, he took a calculative risk, patting Lakshman Sandakan at long-off.
"When it (the target) came down to 50, I thought we could win," Chahar said of his approach. "I took a risk in the middle, hit two-three fours. After the six, I thought I was batting well."
The only such innings Chahar has played was his 20-ball 39 for Chennai Super Kings against Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2018, when MS Dhoni promoted him to No.
For most people, that IPL innings was the first glimpse of Chahar's batting prowess. Not for former India batsman Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Who tweeted this:
Deepak Chahar is not a slogger like most think. He is a talented batsman capable of surprising he best of the bowlers in the #ipl18 @ChennaiIPL @CskIPLTeam https://t.co/52ZrHApQkr
— HRISHIKESH KANITKAR (@hrishikanitkar) May 20, 2018
Kanitkar had observed Chahar most closely. It was under Kanitkar's captaincy that Chahar made his first-class debut for Rajasthan. It started with a record of 8 runs for 10 wickets, but after that when the results fell short, Kanitkar's faith and support was not lost.
Recalling his early years in senior cricket in 2019, Chahar told ESPNcricinfo, "I don't have any political background or powerful supporters, so maybe he thought I could be pushed around." "Generally people have support. One person who always supported me was Hrishikesh Kantikar. He came from outside (as a professional) so he was only concerned with your performance as players. Doesn't matter who came from where. As long as he was the captain, he supported me completely. Even now he always supports me. Even when I had a bad phase in the middle, he was such a person , who believed that I could play for India."
What Kanitkar knew at the time was in evidence on Tuesday. Chahar not only scored a series-winning lead for India in ODIs, but he also made a big push to make it into India's regular starting XI. The Indian team playing Sri Lanka is not playing at full strength, but whenever it is, it can easily do so with number eight, which can convert a pressing half-century into a win again. Players who can join the team based on their seam bowling and contribute runs, in some areas India do not have a lot of options to choose from.
Chahar's primary skill is his bowling, and he didn't do too badly at that either. There was a degree of freedom, but there was also some misfortune in the form of a dropped catch, and a six that could have been a catch, Bhuvneshwar would have stood on the rope at fine leg instead of ten yards inside the boundary. There was nothing precious to work with for a bowler like Chahar: no swing or seams on offer, and the scorching heat that made fast bowling more difficult. And yet, there were two skilful knuckle balls that gave wickets at crucial moments for his team.
"He has good potential, as he showed today. If he continues, India will definitely have another all-rounder," Bhuvneshwar said at the post-match press conference. “It is too early to say, but the ability that he has…and the way he practices also. He keeps various situations in his mind while practicing, and thinks what he can do, what did he do. should go."
In his brief international career and long stint in the IPL, Chahar has evolved from a powerplay specialist to a versatile bowler who can work at every stage. Till now, he was one of the many fast bowlers who were struggling to find a place in India's full-power attack. His bowling had kept him in contention. Now, with his batting, he has moved closer to the front of the line. If he can stay there, India may have a solution to their troubling issue of white-ball batting depth.