CHENNAI: Deepak Chahar has been one of the vital cogs for Mumbai Indians this season.
His numbers might not match up with the best but his presence cannot be understated. The medium pacer, who was formerly with Chennai Super Kings, has complemented the rest of the bowling attack to help Mumbai climb atop of points table in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
In Mumbai's most-recent win against Rajasthan Royals, Deepak dismissed the in-form Vaibhav Suryavanshi to give Mumbai the ideal start before Trent Boult, the leading wicket-taker for the franchise with 17 scalps, and Jasprit Bumrah took over.
The Agra-born player credited the entire team for his good output so far. "I think we're playing good cricket as a unit and everybody is in form, including bowlers and batters. Everybody has performed in the last 8 to 9 matches. Obviously, when you're performing as a team and then you, as a player, have confidence. So I think it's just the collective teamwork and everybody being in form that gives a lot of confidence," said Chahar.
Bowling alongside the likes of Boult and Bumrah, two big names in the world of fast bowling, has certainly given him that little bit of edge. "When you are bowling with world-class partners, it becomes easy for you because if you have a bad over, they are there to back you up by chipping in with breakthroughs. It then becomes easy for me to come and bowl to the new batter," said Chahar.
"These guys have done well in international cricket, and that experience is helping me. When you bowl as a group, it becomes difficult for the opposition," he added.
With Mumbai earning their sixth straight win (seventh overall) this season on Thursday, the five-time champs are destined to go a long way. But Chahar is not looking too far ahead and wants the team to stay focussed.
"I think it's good to be on the top, obviously when you finish on top too you get an extra chance, so obviously all the teams who are playing want to finish on top too. I think the momentum is with us and as a player and as a team you focus on the particular game, winning and losing is the end result. And you focus on the game and take it match by match. So obviously the momentum is with us and we're focusing on the next game now," said Chahar.