"Request media to support athletes," says Deepak Chahar

CHENNAI: India bowler Deepak Chahar on Sunday requested the media persons to support athletes. The 31-year-old bowler made his India debut in the T20I format against England in July 2018, following that he bagged 31 wickets after appearing in 25 matches. Meanwhile, he played his first ODI match in September 2018 against Afghanistan. He took part in 12 50-over innings, in which he picked up 16 wickets.

While speaking at the TNSJA (Tamil Nadu Sports Journalists' Association) Annual Awards & Scholarships, Chahar asked the journalists to not "put down" an athlete when they are young.

"Seeing Media journalists supporting athletes is very different for me... I request the media to support athletes. Athletes shouldn't be put down when they are young," Chahar said. Chahar made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut in the 2016 season, and following that he has appeared in 73 matches where he picked up 72 wickets. In IPL 2023, the 31-year-old bagged 13 wickets in 10 games and gave the Chennai-based franchise some important breakthroughs with the new ball. During his past five-year stint with CSK, Chahar's performance has been consistent.

CSK will kick off their campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first game of the IPL 2024, at Chepauk, on March 22.

CSK IPL Squad: MS Dhoni (C), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly.