"Look at Surya and some of the shots he plays"- Deepak Chahar gives SKY's reference on importance of practice

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Deepak Chahar claimed that he was never a 'naturally gifted' swing bowler and believes he worked hard to learn the art of swinging the ball both ways.

Chahar opened up on how his father used to help him bowl as many as 500 balls per day to master the art of swing and accuracy. He feels the secret to success is more about practicing from an early age.

On the show 'Breakfast with Champions', here's what Deepak Chahar had to say about the importance of practice by giving the example of Suryakumar Yadav's unorthodox shots:

"We started the practice of good length bowling and I used to bowl 500 balls everyday, 250 inswing and 250 outswing. People say I am a natural swing bowler. But for me nothing is natural. Whatever you practice from the early age, you become good at that. Look at Surya and some of the shots he plays. He has practiced for that since his childhood and might have got dismissed too a number of times, but he practiced and nailed the execution."

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Deepak Chahar on importance of playing with higher age-group players

Deepak Chahar also credited his father for making him play with players of higher age groups so that he could be exposed to greater difficulty and adapt accordingly. He feels that helped him perform against players of his own age group relatively easily.

On this, Chahar stated:

"One thing what my father did was really smart was that he made me play with players elder to me. That made me more competitive. Those who reduce their age to fit into certain age groups are only diminishing their chances of playing professionally. When you compete with people of outside your age group, you get prepared for tougher things and then playing within your own age group feels easier."

Whenever fit, Chahar has been a massive asset to both India as well as CSK.