"Family comes first" - Deepak Chahar opens up on skipping recent South Africa tour

Team India seamer Deepak Chahar recently said that it was an obvious decision to skip the recent tour of South Africa to spend time with his ailing father. The 31-year-old declared that family always comes first and that the situation required his full attention.

Chahar missed the T20I series in South Africa last December and the subsequent leg at home against Afghanistan because his father was unwell. The new-ball bowler also played in only one of the five T20Is against Australia. Hence, the upcoming season of IPL is his last chance to make his case for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Chahar said:

"I'd say family comes first. If there's a family emergency, you don't think about anything else. When you face a situation like this, you don't think about what's going to happen next. When I came out of that situation, I could think about what next I can do. When anyone sees me play the next time, they should be thinking: 'he's an improved cricketer'."

The Agra-born cricketer believes the Super Kings had an excellent auction, prompting some happy headaches for the think tank. He added:

"We had a very good auction and I also said recently that we have such a good balance that Mahi bhai and Fleming will have problems to make the combinations. We will have plenty of combinations to play with, so they're the ones who are going to decide."

The Yellow Army purchased Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Mustafizur Rahman, Sameer Rizvi, Shardul Thakur, and Avinash Rao Aravelly. Mitchell proved to be the most expensive player, fetching INR 14 crore from the franchise.

"He's helped the bowlers a lot" - Deepak Chahar on Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo played several seasons for CSK. (Credits: Getty)

The right-arm seamer also heaped praise on Dwayne Bravo, talking about how well he uses his experience to teach bowlers how to bowl in the death overs. Chahar said:

"He has so much experience. He has more than 600 wickets in T20 cricket. He doesn't teach me a lot [with the new ball], but when it comes to the old ball, he starts giving his coaching. He's helped the bowlers a lot, especially those who bowl more at the death, because he knows the mindset of batsmen - what he is thinking."

Bravo, one of the most successful IPL players, joined the decorated franchise as the bowling coach last year. The Super Kings are also the defending champions.