The 31 year old Indian National Cricket Team Right-arm pacer Deepak Chahar was not part of the playing XI in the fifth and final T20I of the five-match series against the Matthew Wade-led Australia National Cricket Team at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, December 3. .
The match between the teams is lost as India heads into the game with an unassailable 3-1 lead. The Men in Blue won the first two matches by 2 wickets and 44 runs respectively, before losing the third T20I by 5 wickets. They came back strong in the next game and won it by 20 runs to clinch the series.
Deepak Chahar recently returned to India’s T20I setup after a year-long absence. He was originally not included in the team and his return was made possible due to the non-availability of pacer Mukesh Kumar for the third T20I.
Mukesh Kumar received permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ahead of the third T20I for his wedding. And to cope with his absence, the BCCI added Deepak Chahar to the team for the rest of the series.
Arshdeep Singh replaces Deepak Chahar and confirms Suryakumar Yadav
Before the toss, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra reported that Deepak Chahar will not be taking part in the match as he is not available for selection due to a family health emergency.
At the toss, Indian national cricket team captain Suryakumar Yadav stated that Deepak Chahar had flown back home due to a medical emergency. He was replaced by Arshdeep Singh in the playing XI.
“We would have loved to bowl first. I told the team not to change anything, another chance to play in front of an incredible crowd, so go and enjoy. The way the batting unit has acted has simply told them to believe and execute. Arshdeep comes in for Deepak Chahar. He (Deepak) has flown back home due to a medical emergency..”
India (playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh
Australia (playing XI): Travis Head, Josh Philippe, Ben McDermott, Aaron Hardie, Tim David, Matthew Short, Matthew Wade (w/c), Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha