Movement in air and off the pitch takes Akash Deep into India squad for Bangladesh Tests

A crucial spot in the India Test squad was wide open for the upcoming series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, and four days into the domestic season in the Duleep Trophy, Akash Deep has made it his own.

With Mohammad Shami still recuperating as Bangladesh arrive after their heroics in Pakistan, Akash’s all-round performance on a seaming pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium has prompted the selectors to give the 27-year-old their nod.

Representing India A, in an ultimately losing cause against India B, Akash troubled a string of opposition batters with pronounced movement, in the air and off the strip. In the aftermath of his nine-wicket (4/60 and 5/56) match haul and a late assault with the bat (42-ball 43) in a 275-run chase, he ticked all the boxes in his first red-ball game since his Test debut in February.

Fantastic 🖐️

Akash Deep has bowled brilliantly and picked up 9 wickets in the match 🙌

Re-live his five-wicket haul in the 2nd innings 📽️🔽 #DuleepTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank

Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/eQyu38Erb1 pic.twitter.com/Cc95TyaqdU

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 8, 2024

“My last proper match was for India in the Ranchi Test. After that, I had only played one match in the IPL. It is hard to play as a pacer after such a long break. But I have been here at the NCA since last month. We were treating the practice games as real-match situations to improve muscle memory,” Akash told reporters on Sunday before the squad announcement.

The domestic workhorse has added more weapons to his artillery in the meantime, picking the brains of statemate Shami and taking up an angular bowling run-up.

Akash described the first-innings dismissal of Nitish Kumar Reddy and the inswinger to snap left-hander Washington Sundar on day four as his favourites in the game. While the ball to Nitish was a genuine outswinger from a middle-stump line to the top of off-stump, a set-up got the better of Sundar.

“I was bowling for a considerable time from around the wicket to him today. He was batting against me in the nets in the NCA, so I was familiar with it. I wanted to come up with another plan and do something different that I hadn’t shown before to him. I came over the wicket and got it to swing in,” Akash recalled .

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐁 𝐖𝐢𝐧 🙌

Akash Deep's fighting knock of 43(42) comes to an end as he's run out by a quick-thinking Musheer Khan.

India B beat India A by 76 runs. A fantastic win 👏#DuleepTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/eQyu38Erb1 pic.twitter.com/f3XjnSMrVf

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 8, 2024

The outswinger was a product of necessity, he said.

“I used to be a natural inswing bowler when I started. But I had an injury a couple of years ago on my right shoulder which hampered it. I had to search for other tools. So I began using outswingers in matches and it gradually improved. And as the shoulder condition became normal, I had the inswinger back.”

Getting the ball to land on the seam in the Shami mould has helped Akash succeed on the Bengaluru surface. A nugget from veteran Shami has helped him develop a potent delivery for left-handers.

“This is my natural action. I have not tried to copy him (Shami). But there are things that I have imbibed from him because there are similarities in our styles, like the seam movement from around the wicket to a left-hander,” he stressed.

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