In a massive blow for defending champions Chennai Super Kings, their fast bowler Deepak Chahar on Friday was ruled out of the IPL 2022 due to a back injury.The 29-year-old picked up a back injury at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru while rehabilitating from a quadricep injury sustained during the third T20I against West Indies in February."Chennai Super Kings bowler Deepak Chahar has been ruled out of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 owing to a back injury," the league said in a statement.Chahar was an integral part of CSK's fourth championship win in IPL 2021, claiming 14 wickets from 15 games at an economy of 8.35. He was the team's PowerPlay enforcer with the ball and also an able lower-order hitter, which got the franchise to spend 14 crores to pick him at the mega auction ahead of this season.
The pacer sustained the injury days after the auction and missed the subsequent series against Sri Lanka while rehabilitating at the NCA. The initial assessment by the NCA physios projected that Chahar was set to miss a major chunk of the IPL 2022 and his quick recovery kept CSK hopeful of a return in late April but the back injury setback put an end to all those hopes.In his absence, CSK have won just one game out of five in the ongoing season. However, the franchise still hasn't announced Chahar's replacement for the IPL 2022.The likes of Mukesh Choudhary, Tushar Deshpande, Adam Milne and Chris Jordan have been used with the new ball but none of them has been very effective. Among still other options, the four times champions have KM Asif and Rajvardhan Hangarkekar who can take the new ball for them in the matches to come.Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have signed fast bowler Harshit Rana as a replacement for pacer Rasikh Salam for the rest of the IPL 2022 season.Salam, who played 2 games for KKR this season, has been ruled out owing to a lower back injury and will take no further part in the tournament. His replacement, Rana, from Delhi will join KKR at his base price of Rs 20 Lakh.