Deepak Chahar, who has shot his way into limelight and stardom after picking up a hat-trick in the third Twenty-20 International (T20I) against Bangladesh on Sunday, seems to be in a position now where he needs to thank former India cricketer Aakash Chopra.
Ever since Chahar took the match-winning hat-trick and inspired India to a series-win with his astonishing figure of 6/7 in the final T20I, stories have resurfaced about his struggles from earlier days.
Some suggest how Australian great Greg Chappel, who was the director of cricket Rajasthan in 2008, had discarded young Chahar and asked him to not play cricket.
Another had reflected the MS Dhoni’s backing on him and how with his help the 27-year-old rose up to the ranks, first in the Indian Premier League team Chennai SUper Kings and then in the national set up.
Amidst all these folklore, an old Tweet from Aakash Chopra has emerged where the former Indian opener was seen speaking about Chahar. Chopra had urged to keep an eye on him and believed he would be seen a lot in the future. All these in 2019.
@MalhotraSaurabh I’ve spotted a young talent…Deepak Chahar in Rajasthan. Remember his name…you’d see a lot of him in the future 🙂
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 9, 2010
Quite naturally, the moment this post resurfaced after nine years, cricket fans on social media went hullaballoo. While some lauded Chopra’s prophecy skills, some urged BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to make him the chief selector.
Here’s how people reacted
Wow ! What a prophecy!! @msdhoni and @ChennaiIPL took you pretty seriously and ensured that he was brought to lime light and made to shine on International stage @deepak_chahar9 @BCCI
— S Ramasubramanian (@Srsmanian72) November 13, 2019
The prediction came true..??
Ya …..— AshuAtul (@ashu6atul) November 13, 2019
And you all were busy thanking MS😉
— Ishita Srivastava (@IshitaS66128628) November 12, 2019
Potentially Chief Selector of Indian Cricket…@SGanguly99
— Anil P Joseph (@Anil4Joseph) November 13, 2019
Sir why not u became the chief selector? It also deserve u
— Masterpiece (@Masterp19082965) November 12, 2019
Chopra too joined the party and retweeted his own words.
Thank you so much. Means a lot ☺️🤗 https://t.co/FefHr5igqh
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 12, 2019
Worthy of mentioning, Chopra had played for the Rajasthan team, Chahar’s domestic side, as a guest player after joining from Delhi. He had helped the team to two back-to-back Ranji Trophy triumphs in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Chahar had made his first-class debut for Rajasthan in the 2010-11 season in which he had picked up an impressive figure of 8/10.