Indian leg-spinner Rahul Chahar has been included in Surrey’s squad for their final County Championship season match against Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl.
The 26-year-old joins Surrey as they look to secure their fourth consecutive Championship crown.
Chahar was registered by Surrey earlier this month in line with ECB regulations, but he did not feature in their home fixtures against Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire. The latter ended in a narrow 20-run defeat, a result that brought Nottinghamshire into the title race. Surrey now trails by 14 points, making the Hampshire clash a must-win encounter, with their fate also depending on Nottinghamshire’s result against Warwickshire at Trent Bridge.
Injuries in Surrey’s squad have forced the inclusion of Chahar. Their primary spin options, Will Jacks and Cam Steel, are sidelined, while Tamil Nadu spinner R. Sai Kishore, who was initially expected to return for the season’s final stages, has been ruled out following finger surgery.
We had originally earmarked for Sai Kishore to return for the latter stages: Alec Stewart
The leggie represents Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy and has bagged 87 wickets in 24 first-class matches at an average of 26.12, with best figures of 9 for 148. While his appearances for India have been limited, including one ODI and six T20Is, he is well-known for his role in the Mumbai Indians’ back-to-back IPL triumphs in 2019 and 2020. He also had brief stints with the Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, making a solitary appearance this season as an impact substitute. Speaking about the opportunity, the Rajasthan-born expressed his eagerness to contribute to the important match.
"I'm excited to join Surrey for this week's match. I'm coming here to have an impact and help the team in their final match of the season," he said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Surrey’s high-performance advisor, Alec Stewart, welcomed Chahar, mentioning its significance given the circumstances the team is in. Stewart spoke about Sai Kishore's injury, which sidelined him for the latter stage of the season.
"Adding Rahul to the squad gives us another spin option at the Utilita Bowl. We always knew that we would be missing players for the final period of the season and try to plan accordingly given the potential surfaces and the opposition we're playing. We had originally earmarked for Sai Kishore to return for the latter stages of the season but he unfortunately has a finger injury resulting in an operation that has meant he was unavailable," Stewart said.
The Hampshire clash will potentially witness Chahar going head-to-head against fellow Indian spinner Washington Sundar, who recently joined Hampshire for the final two fixtures.
