It was a lovely delivery that nipped back from a length around off and burst past Crawley’s inside edge, sending the off-stump cart-wheeling. But as luck would have it, the siren went off and the replays showed that it was a front-foot no-ball.
But an undeterred Akash Deep continued to bowl full tilt and indeed made it a memorable debut nonetheless by getting his maiden Test wicket in the 10th over by inducing an edge off the bat of Ben Duckett off a delivery that nipped back in from a good length and then straightened onto the left-hander, made Duckett play and the ball took the edge for a simple catch for Dhruv Jurel.
Two deliveries later, Akash Deep trapped Ollie Pope plumb in front. India took the review and the replays showed Pope was coming down the pitch and was beaten on the inside edge, struck in front of off and it was taking out the top of leg.
Akash Deep then took his third wicket in the next over when he clean bowled Crawley by a delivery that jagged back in sharply, cut the right-hander in half and went on to hit the top of off-stump.
The Indian cricket board (BCCI) shared a video of the three dismissals on X:
Akash has been one of the most consistent performers in recent time with his standout performances for India ‘A’ being on display in the recent unofficial multiple-day series against England Lions, where he took 13 wickets.
However, with a non-sporting background, no one in his family ever wanted Akash to play cricket. Akash’s father Ramji Singh was a teacher at Sasaram in Bihar. “My father didn’t like me playing cricket. Bihar was out of the Ranji Trophy then and cricket didn’t offer a bright future. I used to play cricket secretly,” he once said about his growing up days.
In 2010, Akash came to Durgapur in Bengal and started staying with his uncle. At a local academy, he got in as a batter. But as he was gaining height, local coaches asked him to try his hand in fast bowling.
But he suffered a setback even before his cricketing career could get wings to soar. His father passed away after a paralytic attack. Before the family could come to terms with the tragedy, Akash lost his elder brother too. The twin tragedies sent the youngster back to his village.
Three years later, he returned to Durgapur when his uncle’s son worked up a Kolkata connection and Akash joined the United Club in the CAB first division league. It was not easy to transform from a tennis ball cricketer to a performer in serious cricket.
At the Vision 2020 programme, former Bengal pacer Ranadeb Bose worked with Akash and a year later he got picked for the Bengal U-23 side. During that time, he suffered a career-threatening back injury and erstwhile Bengal U-23 head coach Sourasish Lahiri looked after his rehabilitation.
The youngster made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2019. Akash was soon included in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad for the second phase of the 2021 IPL in the UAE. Next year he replaced injured Shivam Mavi in India’s squad for the 2022 Asian Games.