Growing up in Sasaram, a city in the Rohtas district in Bihar, the only cricket stadium that Akash Deep knew was Green Park, some miles away in the Uttar Pradesh heartland. He used to think, “Idhar sab kuch hara bhara hoga (It must be greenery everywhere).” But little did he know that the tracks here once used to be as flat as the Grand Trunk Road, which was built by Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan warlord from Sasaram, before it started churning out low turners.
The deck for the second Test between India and Bangladesh was slightly different, placid but with a tinge of grass, but typically without bounce and carry. Under overcast conditions, Rohit Sharma chose to bowl, the first time since 2015 an Indian captain had decided to sent the opposition in. However, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj struggled to find their lengths. But just when it seemed that the Bangladesh openers had weathered the storm, Akash began his business. The strapping seamer removed both the openers in an incisive spell that read 10-4-34-2, as India reduced the visitors to 107 for three before incessant rain forced premature close of play.
The difference between Akash’s success and the toil of Bumrah-Siraj was the length. To the tentative opener Zakir Hasan, who Bumrah had beaten on a loop in his 24-ball ordeal, he brought the length back a bit after a full length ball in his first over. His tame stab produced a nick to gully which Yashasvi Jaiswal smartly grabbed. Akash celebrated like someone who had imagined this dismissal before. In fact he had.
For the past couple of days, he has spent considerable time with bowling coach Morne Morkel. On Thursday, with the South African in tow, he bowled around the wicket to the left-handed batters. Multiple plastic cones were placed on the spots deemed ideal against them. After each ball, Morkel gave him feedback, who himself was a menace for the southpaws.
The game awareness belied the fact that he is playing just his third Test and that he is getting sharper and more accurate with every game. If Zakir’s dismissal was something he had home-worked, Shadman Islam’s was something he conceived in the second over, which he bowled to Mominul Haque.
After troubling Mominul with clever change in angles by using the crease, he trapped Shadman in front, another left-hander, with a ball delivered wider from the crease. He used the crease smartly and subtly to create the angles against the left-handed batters, like Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami.
The difference between Akash’s success and the toil of Bumrah-Siraj was the length. (PTI Photo/Vijay Verma)
The angle prompted the on-field umpire in thinking that the ball was sliding down. Rohit Sharma too was not enthused, but Akash pleaded and Rohit reviewed, upon which the decision was overturned. Rohit hugged the speedster, an act that showed he had won his captain’s trust. The pacer had talked about the influence of Rohit. “I had hesitation initially that there would be pressure, but Rohit bhaiya made things simple. I haven’t played under such a supportive captain,” he said.
Hazlewood impact
The other influential figure is his life his is former IPL teammate Josh Hazlewood, even though his run-up, action and skiddy pace are more reminiscent of Shami. From the Australian metronome, he learned the art of attacking the off-stump line.
“I used to watch his bowling on YouTube and now I was bowling in tandem with him. Most of our discussions used to be on bowling the off-stump line, how he sets up batsmen, and his game preparation,” Akash Deep has once told this newspaper.
Jaiswal pounces like a panther to take the catch! 👌#INDvBAN #JioCinemaSports #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries pic.twitter.com/cfg394XfMm
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) September 27, 2024
“Josh told me that the Test cricket length will always be effective. That off-stump line has given him so many wickets in all formats. My biggest takeaway was the way he stuck to his strength and waited for the batsmen to commit mistakes. Kabhi kabhi aisa lagta tha jaise wo chess khel raha hai batsman ke saath (Sometimes, it seemed like he was playing chess with batsmen),” he said.
If he stays fit, Akash looks like someone that has already booked his place for the Australian tour and can give a stiff competition to Mohammed Siraj in the playing eleven.
Thoroughbred
Akash bowled almost one-third of the overs on Day 1. Fittingly, former Bengal coach, Arun Lal, who played a pivotal role in Akash’s career, calls him a lambi race ka ghoda. “He is someone who can bowl 25 overs a day and will still look at the captain for more. I am not surprised with his rise,” Arun Lal told The Indian Express.
“Whenever I see him take wickets, I jump from my seat. It’s a Cinderella story. The hardship he has faced, and the personal losses, he has suffered but he kept going. This self-belief has taken him to this level. I don’t want to jinx him, but he is only going to get better,” Lal added.
Despite the cloud cover and the ball hooping around it was not simply a case of putting the ball in the right areas. After all, the city goes by the moniker Manchester of the East, and not the real Manchester, where dark clouds are ominous signs for batsmen. The bounce was far from ideal—Bumrah’s first ball reached Rishabh Pant on one bounce.
The lack of bounce meant the edges fell short, or ran to the point boundaries. Bumrah, who bowled three maidens on the trot, stood frustrated. Siraj looked off-colour, and Rohit introduced Ashwin as early as the eighth over. He soon consumed captain Najmul Shanto, who was sweeping and reverse sweeping him.
Soon pounded in rain and the day was called off. The shining light on the gloomy day, though, was Akash.
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