Chennai Super Kings fast bowler Deepak Chahar is likely to be available for his team by the middle of April for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League, as reported by Times of India.

Earlier it was reported that Chahar could go on to miss the whole of the 15th season due to injury.

Chahar had suffered a quadricep tear in the third T20I against West Indies and had limped off the field. The swing fast bowler had taken two wickets in his spell against the Windies and had accounted for Kyle Mayers and Shai Hope. He was subsequently ruled out of the series against Sri Lanka and he is also expected to miss a major part of the IPL.

Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings had broken the bank for Deepak Chahar as he was bought for a whopping amount of INR 14 crores in the IPL mega auction. Thus, it is a big blow for the MS Dhoni-led team as Chahar was their lead bowler.

Chahar is currently undergoing his rehabilitation process at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and he will look to recover in time for the IPL. The swing bowler has taken 59 wickets n 63 IPL matches at an average of 29.19 and an economy rate of 7.8.

In the absence of Deepak Chahar, the onus of pace battery will fall on the shoulders of Dwayne Bravo, Adam Milne, and Chris Jordan.

Chennai Super Kings will begin their title defense against the previous season’s runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on March 26.

CSK Squad: Batters: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Devon Conway, Subhranshu Senapati, Hari Nishanth

Wicketkeepers: MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, N Jagadeeshan

Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, Dwayne Bravo, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorious, Mitchell Santner, Chris Jordan, Bhagath Verma

Bowlers: Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, KM Asif, Simarjeet Singh, Maheesh Theekhana, Adam Milne, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki.