Indian bowler Deepak Chahal on Sunday asked media persons to support the sportsperson. The 31-year-old bowler made his debut in India’s T20I against England in July 2018 and went on to take 31 wickets in 25 games. Meanwhile, he played his first ODI in September 2018 against Afghanistan. He played 12 50-over innings, taking 16 wickets. While speaking at the TNSJA (Tamil Nadu Sports Journalists Association) annual awards and scholarships, Chahal asked journalists not to “disparage” young sportspersons.

“It is very different for me to see media reporters supporting athletes…I ask the media to support athletes. Athletes should not be belittled when they are young,” Chahal said.

Chahal made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut in the 2016 season and since then he has played 73 matches and taken 72 wickets.

In IPL 2023, the 31-year-old took 13 wickets in 10 games and gave the Chennai-based franchise some major breakthroughs with the new ball. Chahar has been a consistent performer in the last five years with CSK.

CSK will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first match of IPL 2024 on March 22 in Chepauk.

CSK IPL Lineup:MS Dhoni (C), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu , Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly.

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