“It's time to look at Deepak Chahar now” - Sunil Gavaskar suggests replacement for struggling Bhuvneshwar Kumar 

Sunil Gavaskar reckons India must start giving preference to Deepak Chahar over Bhuvneshwar Kumar, keeping the 2023 ODI World Cup in mind. 31-year-old Kumar has lacked bite in the ongoing one-day series against South Africa. He has gone wicketless in both games, conceding 64 and 67 runs respectively.

Speaking to Sports Today, Gavaskar opined that Chahar is a similar kind of player to Bhuvneshwar and hence can be considered a like-for-like replacement. The former India batter said:

"I think it's time to look at Deepak Chahar now. He is younger, pretty much the same kind of bowler and bats handily down the order.”

Gavaskar pointed out that over the last year, Bhuvneshwar has been ineffective in franchise cricket as well. The Indian legend added:

"Bhuvi has been a tremendous servant of Indian cricket but in the last year or so, even in franchise level T20 cricket, he has been expensive. Not so much at the start of the innings but towards the end. He used to bowl those brilliant yorkers and slower deliveries, but those are not working anymore. That can happen, the opposition is studying you all the time and they will know how to be prepared for it. So maybe it is time to look at somebody else."

Chahar was part of the T20I squad that took on New Zealand at home. He was among the wickets in all three games and smacked an 8-ball 21* in the third T20I.

“Look at what is going to be your core team for 2023 World Cup” - Sunil Gavaskar

Elaborating on the need to replace Bhuvneshwar with Chahar, Gavaskar explained that India must start building their core for the 2023 ODI World Cup.

The 72-year-old stated:

"Now the intention should be to look at what is going to be your core team for the 2023 World Cup in India. We have got a good 17-18 months to do that. The core team have got to get the maximum number of ODIs. There are matches coming against West Indies, Sri Lanka and later on against England. That is where you have got to give them the maximum number of matches so they are well prepared for the World Cup.”

India conceded the ODI series against South Africa in Paarl on Friday, without putting up much of a fight. Chasing 288, the Proteas won the second one-dayer by seven wickets, thereby taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.