India are fighting to draw the series level after an emphatic draw in Manchester.
After announcing his retirement in 2024, Dinesh Karthik has made his way into the commentary box. He is quickly making a habit of making that space his own. In the ongoing fifth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Karthik narrated a small instance involving Indian pacer Akash Deep. He spoke about the time when the speedster was selected to play for his state team. What is amazing is not the ‘when’, but the ‘how.’ Akash Deep was one of the architects of India’s victory in the second Test at Edgbaston. He picked 10 wickets in the Test, helping India to draw level with England.
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In his early days, the 28-year-old faced opposition from his parents to pursue cricket as a profession. His father wanted him to take up a government job. Cricket infrastructure in Bihar was not at its best, and the Bihar Cricket Association was suspended too. As a result, Akash Deep fell a victim of the same period. But somehow, his hunger for the game never died. Unfortunately, he faced a lot of setbacks as his father and elder brother both passed away within six months. There was suddenly a huge sense of responsibility on Deep’s shoulders.
Karthik spoke about how the pacer was included in Bengal’s squad. He mentioned that the speedster had to plead the selectors to let him bowl, after which they were impressed with his skills. Karthik narrated the incident, stating that if he hadn’t taken the step back then, we would not have had him in the bowling setup today.
“He came for a fast bowling camp organised by the CAB but he did not get to bowl. So at the end of the day, when all the coaches and everyone were leaving he called one of the coaches back and requested to give him a chance to bowl one ball. He was then eventually identified by Sourav Ganguly who got him into the system and he played for Bengal. Who know what Akash Deep’s career trajectory would have been if he hadn’t asked for that chance”, said Dinesh Karthik on comms.
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The pacer from Bengal knows how to use the crease to his advantage. In the second Test of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Akash Deep rattled the English batters with his bowling. But more than his lines and lengths, which were anyways immaculate, the angles he created were impressive. Every now and then, he would sway away from the crease, creating an angle. What this does for the batter is, it creates an impression that the ball might come in to him. But what it does instead, is that it goes away from the batter after pitching to leave him. On most occasions, the batter’s head is fallen towards the off-side and he is off-balance to score.
His delivery to dismiss Joe Root in Birmingham was one prime example of the bowler using the depth and width of the crease to his advantage. He ended up with four wickets in the first innings, bowling 20 overs. But the most special part was yet to come. The seamer from Bengal topped it up with an amazing six-wicket haul in the second innings to help India win their first-ever match at Edgbaston. Akash Deep was widely praised for his efforts in the Test match. If he continues to bowl like he currently is, he might be on the verge of cementing a place in India’s XI for a long time to come.
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