India head coach Ravi Shastri praised Chennai Super Kings fast bowler Deepak Chahar after he registered figures of 13/4 against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League 2021 encounter on Friday. Chahar dismissed PBKS opener, Mayank Agarwal, for a duck in the first over, and then followed it up with the dismissal of the dangerous Chris Gayle in the 5th over the match.

But Chahar was far from done. Two balls later, Chahar picked up the wicket of Nicholas Pooran, and then followed it up with the dismissal of Deepak Hooda for 10 in the 7th over.

With Chahar's superb performance with the ball, CSK restricted PBKS to a meager total of 106/8 in 20 overs.

Shastri praised the fast bowler for his variations in the match.

"Proven fact. Genuine swing both ways with control can undo the best. Super variations. Brilliant @deepak_chahar9 #CSKvsPBKS @IPL #IPL2021," Shastri tweeted.

Meanwhile, speaking after PBKS' innings on Star Sports, Chahar opened up on his struggles last season.

"I think it was more seam than swing and we bowled in the right areas. Last year was difficult for all of us. I had Covid, was in quarantine for 28 days and after that I played in just 4 days," he said.

"It was difficult for me to straightaway play a game from quarantine. We planned, prepared well for the game today, had to do a lot of planning because the first two games here were high-scoring.

"We got some time to prepare and things went our way as we executed well. I think chasing 107 will be easy for us and hopefully, we will finish well and keep the run rate high," he signed off.

(With inputs from agencies)