In a late addition, out-of-favour India wrist-spinner Rahul Chahar has been added to Surrey’s squad for their final fixture of the County Championship 2025.
Surrey sign Rahul Chahar for final County Championship round
Chahar will be available for Surrey's last match against Hampshire in Southampton, which starts on September 24. The visitors will be without their spin duo of Will Jacks and Cam Steel, both of whom are currently nursing injuries.
"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," Chahar said in an official Surrey release.
Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar comes into the squad for the final Rothesay County Championship match of the season.
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) September 22, 2025
Chahar plays for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy and has represented India seven times in white-ball cricket.
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Chahar isn’t the first Indian bowler to have played for Surrey this season, as R. Sai Kishore represented them in two matches, taking 11 wickets at an average of 24.54, including a five-wicket haul.
The club expected the left-arm spinner to return for the latter stages of the season, but a hand injury sustained in a local club game in Chennai ruled him out of contention for a comeback.
"Adding Rahul to the squad gives us another spin option at the Utilita Bowl," said Surrey's high-performance cricket advisor, Alec Stewart.
Stewart added: "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 has meant he was unavailable."
Rahul Chahar vs Washington Sundar
Chahar will be up against his compatriot, Washington Sundar, when the two teams meet in the final round. Sundar was signed by Hampshire for the final two rounds, making it his second stint in county cricket after the first one with Lancashire in 2022. He played their previous match, against Somerset, bowling 29.4 overs for figures of 1-107 and scoring 23 and 46 runs with the bat.
For Chahar, however, it would be his first-ever outing in the County Championship. His first-class record reads 87 wickets at an average of 26.12. Forty-seven of those dismissals, including five of his seven five-wicket hauls, came in the 2018-19 season.
He has also represented India in six T20Is, including at the 2021 T20 World Cup. His most recent outing in national colours came in an ODI against Sri Lanka in 2021. However, it was the IPL that shot him to fame. Having first played for the defunct Rising Pune Supergiant, he gained attention for his role in the Mumbai Indians' title wins in 2019 and 2020. He later moved to the Punjab Kings before the Sunrisers Hyderabad signed him for the 2025 season.
Chahar has played only one match in each of the previous two seasons. Overall, he has taken 75 wickets at an average of 28.79 and an economy of 7.73 in the IPL.
While Division One table-toppers Nottinghamshire are the favourites to lift the trophy, Surrey, who are placed second, have an outside chance as well and would be banking on Chahar to come good.
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