Team India and former Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Deepak Chahar had a tough time holding back his tears after his whirlwind fifty in the third ODI against South Africa in Cape Town on Sunday (January 23) went in vain. Chahar smashed 54 off 34 balls with two sixes and five fours but India fell short by four runs to be whitewashed 3-0 in the ODI series by hosts SA.


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Chasing 288 to win, Chahar’s second ODI fifty got Team India withing 10 runs of victory but the all-rounder’s dismissal off the first ball of 48th over derailed the chase. Chahar was visibly upset and had moist eyes as he saw the final wicket of Yuzvendra Chahal.


Chahar now averages 70.5 with the bat in his six-match ODI career with fifties against Sri Lanka and South Africa. He has a top-score of 69 not out against Sri Lanka in 2021 and has an impressive strike-rate of 102.17 as well.



Impressed by Chahar’s batting ability, head coach Rahul Dravid said that the all-rounder has shown his quality in the limited opportunities he has gotten and the team would like to give him a more consistent run in the playing XI.


“I mean Deepak Chahar has shown in the opportunities he has gotten with us in Sri Lanka and over here well, he has got some really good ability with the bat. We know what he can do with the ball as well. I have seen him at India A as well and I know he can bat really well so certainly gives us a lot more options,” he said.


“It is nice to have people like him and Shardul Thakur as well, who we have seen in the last couple of games, contribute with the bat as well. So, obviously, the more and more players like this who can contribute lower down certainly makes a big difference and gives us more options. So, certainly, we would like to give Deepak more games along with Shardul and a lot of other people who can step up in the course of next year or so and give us depth in the side,” he added.


(with IANS inputs)