India’s new entrance in Test cricket, Akash Deep has been sensational in his short career so far in red ball cricket. He made his debut against England in Ranchi, earlier, this year. He scalped three wickets in his debut game against England.
Now, the pacer has shown his skills yet again in the first Test match between India and Bangladesh in Chennai. He picked up 2 wickets in the first innings with 2 sensational deliveries which jagged back to castle the stumps of two left handers.
Notably, he picked up a wicket on his debut off a no ball. He revealed what the captain, Rohit Sharma, said to him when he got the wicket off a no ball.
He recalled that he did not feel bad when he picked the wicket of English opener Zak Crawley with a no ball. However, he was sad that his no ball costed Mohammed Siraj 19 runs off his first two overs. He stated that the Indian captain came forward, motivated him, and asked him to leave his thoughts behind as no balls happen in the game of cricket to every bowler.
“I didn’t feel bad at all when I took a wicket that was given as a no ball. What made me feel worse was that Zak Crawley hammered Siraj for 19 runs after two overs. I felt bad because my no ball allowed him to score those runs. Rohit bhaiya came forward and motivated me after that no ball. He said, ‘Aage badh, hota rehta hai.’ He asked me to leave that no ball behind and move forward. But as a bowler, you don’t forget such incidents.” Akashdeep said in an interview with Times of India.
Virat Kohli gifted his bat to Akash Deep during Opening Test vs Bangladesh
Meanwhile, Deep got a bat from Virat Kohli during the opening Test against Bangladesh and he felt elated upon receiving it. He feels that the former Indian captain might have noticed his batting and gifted him the bat.
“Virat bhaiya ne khud se bat diya tha [Virat bhaiya himself gave me the bat]. He must have observed something about my batting. I didn’t ask for it; he came to me and asked, ‘Bat chaiye kya tujhe?’ (Would you want a bat). Who wouldn’t want a bat from Virat bhaiya? He is a legend. I was very happy to hear his words and wanted that bat. He asked me what kind of bat I use while batting, and I just smiled—I didn’t have words. Then he said, ‘Yeh le, rakh le yeh bat’ (keep this), ” Akash revealed.
Meanwhile, India will play the second Test against Bangladesh from 27th September to 1st October 2024 in Kanpur. BCCI have announced an unchanged squad for the second Test.
