Who is Akash Deep? A pace sensation from Bengal who received his maiden Test call-up against England

The Pataudi Trophy between India and England is hung in balance with a score line of 1-1 after the first two matches. While England won the first test out of nowhere on the back of Ollie Pope’s inspiring 196 runs in England’s 2nd innings, India made a stellar comeback in the 2nd test winning it by 106 runs with the help of Jasprit Bumrah and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s heroics.

Now with three more matches remaining in the series, the stage is set for an exciting battle in the remaining three matches. Before the series, India announced the squad only for the first two Tests, therefore the Indian squad for the remaining three Tests has been announced by the Indian Cricket Board and there have been some surprise inclusions and exclusions in the squad.

Major updates in the Indian Test squad against England

While Virat Kohli who was initially out for the first two Tests is now set to miss the last three Tests as well due to personal reasons. Shreyas Iyer who has been out of form in the Test format has been dropped from the remainder of the series. However, one inclusion that took everyone by surprise was that of Bengal’s pacer Akash Deep.

Akash Deep has received his maiden test call-up for India in place of pacer Avesh Khan was released by the Indian management to take part in the Ranji Trophy for Madhya Pradesh. Akash Deep is a bowling all-rounder who is mainly known for bowling prowess but can bat a bit too.

He has played 29 First-Class matches for Bengal and has taken 103 wickets and has also scored 413 runs in them with a highest score of 53 not out. Akash Deep was born on December 15, 1996, in Dehri, Bihar. Initially, his father disapproved of his cricket, but his supportive uncle facilitated his transition from Bihar to Bengal, where he started his First-Class cricket journey. He also played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. He was picked by the franchise for Rs 20 lakh in 2022. In the seven matches he has played for RCB, Akash has taken six wickets.  

India squad for remaining England Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul*, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.

"The participation of Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul is subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI medical team," as quoted in the Indian Cricket Board’s release on Saturday.