Fast bowler Deepak Chahar has finally revealed the reason for his non-participation in India's recent tour of South Africa.
While speaking to the news agency PTI, Chahar mentioned that his father suffered a brain stroke before India toured South Africa for three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests and he had to tend to him.
"For me, my father comes first. I am here only because of him. Whatever I have achieved is because of my father. If I am not there for him in those situations, then obviously, what kind of son I am?" Chahar told PTI.
"If the series was in India, then I would have surely tried to play. You can come to the hospital if you need within 4-5 hours. But obviously, [from] South Africa it takes 2-3 days to come back.
"It was an easy decision to be with my father. Any son would do that," he added.
While his father is doing fine now, he (Deepak's father) was admitted to a hospital in Aligarh and Deepak stayed with him for 25 days. Deepak was not able to dedicate time to his fitness regime properly and hence "wasn't ready" for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan which succeeded India's South Africa tour.
"I was with my father in the hospital for 25 days. He was admitted in Aligarh. We all had to stay there," he said.
"I was only able to do some exercises. I was not able to do any cricketing activities. That's why I was not ready for the Afghanistan series. I had not practised for a month or so.
"After that I went to the NCA. I started my practice again and now I am fully fit. Everything is good. I trained really hard for the IPL and the World Cup," Chahar mentioned.
The 31-year-old bowling allrounder is focusing on the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 and feels that "there is always a requirement for a bowler who can bat at Nos. 7, 8, 9" to strike the right balance in a T20 squad.
