On damp day, Akash Deep the bright spot for India

Kanpur: Unlike Jasprit Bumrah who locks eyes with batters as he tiptoes in before that final sprint, or Mohammed Siraj who likes to have a word or two with opponents in his follow through, Akash Deep comes off as a far less aggressive fast bowler.

But he more than makes up on that front with that relentless accuracy. Three wickets in his debut Test against England at Ranchi earlier this year, two at Chennai last week and two again here on Friday means Akash remains a bright spot despite the gloomy weather and a damp finish to Day 1 of the second Test, with Bangladesh on 107/3.

Both dismissals were impressive. Zakir Hasan was being tormented by disciplined bowling from Bumrah and Siraj outside the off stump before Akash removed him with only the third delivery of his first over — inducing an edge that Yashasvi Jaiswal brilliantly held on to, diving to his right at wide third slip. It was a length ball alright, straightening after pitching to get an outside edge off Hasan’s feeble defensive prod.

But Akash’s second wicket was a true example of his confidence as he kept requesting for a review of a leg-before appeal even though Sharma and Rishabh Pant weren’t convinced at first. Sharma took the review ultimately, and India struck gold. Again, a length ball, this time coming in with the angle to Shadman Islam who looked to flick it but got beaten. Ball-tracking showed it would have gone on to hit a good chunk of leg stump. Of his seven Test wickets, this was the fifth time Akash had removed a left hander.

It’s also a fitting homecoming of sorts, given Akash has a connection with this ground. “I am from Varanasi, which is not far from here. I had heard of the stadium – Green Park – when I was young, and I thought that it’s because the whole ground was green,” Akash had said before this Test. “I hadn’t seen any stadiums at the time. I remembered it after coming here, that the first stadium I had heard of was Green Park. It feels nice, that I am here, at the place I had heard of as a kid.”

Akash’s accuracy is a gift. It’s also a trait one tends to acquire quickly when bowling in tennis ball khep tournaments where the margins of error are ridiculously low. Having spent some time playing around Durgapur and Asansol, Akash went to Kolkata to play the club league, as is the norm for many cricketers from UP and Bihar. Mohammad Shami is still the biggest name among them, having landed there only because his father Tausif was convinced Shami was meant for the biggest stage. Nearly five years later, Shami made his debut at Eden Gardens.

The attritional rate is high in Kolkata’s cricket league, but like Shami, Akash quickly made a name for himself in second division cricket. The pace had increased considerably, given he was now bowling with the red ball. And the unerring accuracy meant news had quickly travelled about this boy from Sasaram who was making wicketkeepers stand further back than usual.

That zip was visible here, despite the low bounce, as Akash kept clocking in the high 130s to challenge Bangladesh batters. He was slightly on the expensive side, conceding seven boundaries overall, but the wickets make Akash’s chances of making it to the India squad for the Australia tour later this year worth discussing.

Former fast bowler Zaheer Khan feels Akash has all the ingredients to be handy in Australia. “There is no doubt about that. If you look at the Indian team’s playing XI and there are talks about three seamers, Akash Deep is the third. So obviously when we talk about Australia, about that tour, we could see Akash Deep part of the team,” Khan told Cricbuzz on Friday afternoon.

The former India pacer further elaborated on Akash’s skills and claimed that he has the aggression needed for a fast bowler while comparing Akash Deep’s skills with Mohammed Siraj.

“Like how Siraj approaches it. He attacks the stump a lot fourth stump, off stump. The more deliveries you put around that on good length consistently, and it is important in Test match level,” said Khan. “Akash Deep has all of that and he showed he has that aggression needed for a pacer. He has good potential and if he gets chances, his self-belief will increase and he will contribute to the team,” he added.

After the Chennai Test, Akash had said he wasn’t at his best in his Test debut against England but was able to find his groove right from the first ball at Chennai. He planned to bowl a tight line at off stump didn’t allow opposition batters to get away. With Shami still not confirmed fit, the possibility of Akash to be named as third pacer after Bumrah and Siraj is getting brighter. Especially after another display like this, where his accuracy is expected to build this belief that Akash could be better on the harder surfaces of Australia.