Hardik Pandya, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Chahar Fitness Update: Will they play in IPL 2022?

Mumbai, March 15: When the IPL 2022 starts on March 26, two big stars are set to miss a good chunk of the IPL 15, at least the first phase, because of respective injuries and while another will be anxiously waiting for his fitness test result.

They are Hardik Pandya of Gujarat Titans, Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad of Chennai Super Kings.

Here is a lowdown on their injuries, recovery status and fitness test date.

1. Hardik Pandya: The India all-rounder who is set to lead Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2022 has checked in at the NCA for a fitness test.

What injury Hardik has: Lower back injury.

What will be assessed in fitness Test: It will be seen that whether Hardik can bowl at full tilt. The all-rounder has not much issues in batting as he had batted for India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 but did not bowl much. So, his bowling fitness will watched keenly and the test will take place in a couple of days.

“If Gujarat is looking at a pure batter, a skipper and a finisher, Hardik, in all likelihood, is ready but it will be interesting to see what is NCA’s Sports Science and Medicine team’s take on his bowling. Is he ready to bowl at 135 clicks upwards?,” the PTI had quoted a BCCI source regarding Hardik’s fitness.

Gujarat Titans squad: Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Dominic Drakes, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudharshan.

2. Deepak Chahar: The all-rounder Chahar, who has been bought back by the Chennai Super Kings, is in danger of missing the entire first phase of the IPL 2022. Chahar has not so far joined the CSK camp at Surat.

What injury Chahar has: Hamstring.

What will be assessed in fitness test: A date for Chahar’s fitness test has not been set so far. But it has been talked about that Chahar will require between 6 and 8 weeks to recover fully from his injury. Currently, Chahar is undergoing rehabilitation programme at the NCA and is expected to have a fitness test around mid-April.

3. Ruturaj Gaikwad: Chennai Super Kings will also miss Ruturaj, who was the highest run-getter in the IPL 2021, for a good part of the IPL. The CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan also said there is no definite timeline for the return of the opener.

What injury Ruturaj has: Hand injury

What will be assessed in fitness test: Ruturaj Gaikwad has joined with Chennai Super Kings camp at Surat for IPL 2022. The CSK opener has cleared the fitness test at the NCA recuperating from the injury.

Chennai Super Kings squad: Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, KM Asif, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Samarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Adam Milne, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma.