After Dhoni, Chahar criticises Chepauk pitch

We need a better wicket at home, says CSK pacer Chahar

Chennai Super Kings pacer Deepak Chahar has agreed with his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni that the team needs a better pitch at home despite winning all their games, in Chennai, so far.

CSK captain Dhoni has criticised the Chepauk pitch after registering a seven-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday, terming it as 'low scoring'.

And Chahar, who returned with impressive figures of 3 for 20 against KKR, blamed the nature of the wicket on hot and humid weather conditions.

"I'm happy I performed well, but obviously we're looking for a better wicket," Chahar told reporters at the post-match press conference on Tuesday night.

"Nobody wants this type of a wicket. It is because of the soil and heat. It's too hot here and the pitch curators are doing their best job to give us a good track. But, at the end of the day you can't help it," he added.

Dhoni, while speaking at the presentation ceremony had earlier said, "We don't want play on wickets like these," after CSK won another low-scoring game at Chepauk.

Chahar said he had received a lot of messages after Dhoni apparently got angry at him for bowling two waist-high full tosses in the final stages of the game against Kings XI Punjab on April 6.

"I have got thousands of messages asking the same question. I think he (Dhoni) was angry. If I were the captain I would have also got angry. 39 runs runs suddenly became 31 runs off 12 balls. He was angry on the selection of the ball. The selection of the ball was not good," he said with a smile.

"Dhoni bhai was very angry with me," said Chahar in an interview with Times of India. "It was a big mistake that I made. He said a lot of things. Honestly, at the back of my mind, I was thinking 'what to bowl next?'."

Later Chahar resurrected his act by finally bowling according to the field. He left Scott Kuggeleijn with 26 runs to defend in the final over, which the New Zealand pacer did by giving away just three runs off his six balls.

"After the match, every player of my team came and congratulated me," Chahar added. "They said I bowled brilliantly at the death'. Dhoni bhai also came up to me. He smiled and hugged me. He said 'well done'. I know I bowled two bad deliveries, but I made an immediate comeback."

Asked about getting the opportunity to bowl in powerplays, the Rajasthan seamer said he was more confident now after having performed well in last year's IPL and played for India.

"I have been bowling in the powerplays only. (Dwayne) Bravo got injured, so we didn't have someone to bowl at the death overs. I was prepared for it. This time in last two matches I have got the opportunity," he said.

"I was preparing for it. Last year we played a lot of matches in Pune where the conditions were helpful for fast bowling. There was seam and swing. This year we knew that we will be playing a lot of matches in Chennai, I practised in that sense. I am a better than last year."

"At this level you need confidence. Last year's performance gave me a lot of confidence. Playing for India also helped," Chahar added.

KKR leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who took a wicket and two catches including a running one to dismiss Suresh Raina, said the visitors didn't misread the wicket.

He said the batsmen played too many shots at the start, which hurt them badly.

"It's not that we misread the wicket but yes, we played too many shots at the start. We lost three extra wickets in the powerplay. That's how it goes in the shorter format. It happens. Sometimes, the shot that went straight to the fielder would have gone in the gap," Chawla said in defence of the team's batsmen.

He felt that a total of 135-140 or more would have been ideal.

"A total of 135-140 would have been ideal on this wicket. When Nitish (Rana) played that shot, it went to the fielder. When Robin (Uthappa) played the ball, he toed it and it went to the fielder. It just happens," he added.

Chawla said that it was important for the team to put the loss behind and focus on the upcoming games.

"In this tournament, it's important that if you win, you forget it quickly and even if you lose, you forget it quickly," he said.