RECORD ALERT: Akash Deep Took Ten Wickets And Played An Important Role In India’s Win

Birmingham (England) July 6: Akash Deep has often found himself at the other end of the stick. Since his India debut last year – incidentally against England – the India pacer has played just 8 matches. And this is when he hasn’t done much wrong. In all honesty, though, by no fault of his own. As the selection process in the Indian cricket team dictates, people higher in the pecking order get preference. Despite Akash’s promise, those who have played before him tend to get more chances. Which means that Akash, at best, will be India’s third seamer after Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, or, in the instance of the Leeds Test, even behind Prasidh Krishna. When one of them is rested or given a break, and India pick three frontline seamers, that’s when Akash comes in.

But how can you keep him out of India’s Playing XI, especially given the piece of history he has taken with him during his maiden five-wicket haul against England on Day 5 of the Edgbaston Test? Akash stood out in Bumrah’s absence, first finishing with 4/88 in the first innings and then 6/99 in the second to help India beat England by 336 runs. In the second innings in particular, Akash produced a brilliant piece of bowling, which now puts him in the elite company of the legendary Michael Holding. Wonder how? Well, we’ll solve your query right away. When he dismissed Harry Brook out LBW for 23, it marked the first instance of a bowler dismissing four out of England’s top five batters in a Test match inning since Holding did it in 1976. It’s taken almost 50 years, but Akash has done what some of the greatest ever in world cricket haven’t been able to.

Akash’s first wicket was that of England’s centurion from the Headingley game, Ben Duckett, as the left-handed opener played on. Shortly after, Akash produced a ripper to see the back of the dangerous Joe Root. And when play finally began on Day 5, he picked up from where he left off last evening. His deliveries jagged back after pitching, which Ollie Pope couldn’t control and played on. The same thing happened to Brook, who had no chance of putting bat to ball and was given out LBW, the DRS not helping him. That’s four wickets out of England’s top five bagged by a bowler all by himself – no catches.

And to think of all the names that have graced world cricket since 1976. The legendary Wasim Akram, Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn – players who have left behind a legacy for the next 20 years at least, if not more. Akash Deep, of all, can now brag about this achievement. This piece of information was verified by one of the finest cricket statisticians, Andy Zaltzman, for the BBC Test Match Special.

Akash enjoyed a fitting end to the match, finishing with a match haul of 10 wickets, the first Indian. Once he sent Brook back, Akash was back in the thick of things, gettingg Jamie Smith out caught in the deep, but not before the wicketkeeper batter tormented India with another stroke-filled knock of 88. Finally, when the last-wicket pair of Brydon Carse and Shoib Bashir frustrated the bowlers, Akash returned for one final push and sealed the match at last as Shubman Gill’s new-age India sealed their first ever Test victory at Edgbaston.