Visakhapatnam: A remarkably candid Deepak Chahar on Tuesday said he understood early in his career that switching his focus to white ball cricket and IPL was the fastest and easiest route to the India dressing room. The Agra-based Chahar started with a brilliant 8 for 10 in his Ranji Trophy debut against Hyderabad, but for all practical purposes, knew that a speed of 125 kmph with the red ball would take him nowhere near international cricket.

"When I changed my action to gain speed, I struggled with my state team. Now suddenly, I found that my road towards entering the Indian team to be very difficult. "If I had to take the Ranji route, then I would have had to play more matches, play a whole first-class season, play Duleep Trophy. That's a longer road," Chahar said, there was a refreshing honesty in his admission.