Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India]: Debutant speedster Akash Deep revealed that India’s star pacer gave him advise to keep the length of his delivery “slightly back”, which helped him to script a dream debut in the fourth Test against England.
Akash ran riot in the opening session of Day 1 by removing England’s top order to put India in a strong position early in the game.
The 27-year-old’s ability to pick the right line and length played a major role in dismissing England’s star batting trio of Zak Crawley (42), Ben Duckett (11) and Ollie Pope (0).
“Bumrah Bahi advised me to drag the length back slightly (in international cricket), that’s exactly what I did,” Akash said after the end of day 1.
Nervousness wasn’t a factor that hindered Akash in his debut game as his mindset helped him to avoid such a state.
“I wasn’t nervous, had spoken with my coaches, so I wasn’t tense ahead of the game. I don’t know how it happened, but I used to take every game as my last game and tried my best,” Akash added.
He was denied his maiden wicket early in the innings after he managed to force out inside edge from Crawley and removed the off-stump. A front foot no ball stole away his moment of glory, however, giving Crawley an unlikely lifeline.
“I felt bad (on the no-ball), I was just hoping that the team doesn’t lose because of that (since Crawley was batting well),” Akash added.
“There was a bit of help early on, but the ball became soft and the wicket was slow as well. We just tried to be as tight as possible and bowl in the right areas,” he further said.
Akash ended the day with figures of 3/70 but Joe Root’s 31st Test ton brought the game back to balance after India managed to race away in the first session of Day 1.
At the end of the day, England posted a score of 302/7 with Root and Ollie Robinson unbeaten with scores of 106(226) and 31(60) respectively.
Root’s composure was on full display while making his first appearance of the tour, Robinson caught the eye of the spectators with a six and a four during the final overs of the day’s play.
