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Walked in to bat as nightwatchman on Day 2, Akash Deep frustrated England bowlers in the first session. Often adventurous with his strokeplay but equally confident in defense, Deep scored his maiden Test fifty. He shared a crucial 107-run partnership for the third wicket with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. After Day 3's play, captain Shubman Gill revealed that the batters had asked the lower-order to contribute more as part of the banter in the dressing room and Deep stood up to the task.
“For a long time, there has been this banter between batters and bowlers," Gill said in a video posted by BCCI.tv after the day’s play. “The batters keep telling the lower-order batters, karo yaar thoda contribute. I think, is match mein unhone aage peeche ki puri kasar nikal di (Please contribute a bit, man. I think, in this match, they made up for everything). We had just told him one thing that whatever ball is in your radar, look to score runs. These 66 runs are no less than a century," he added.
Kotak’s advice to Akash
India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said that he met Deep in the hotel lift and asked him to give up on the defensive approach and hit the ball if it is in his range.
“He was in the lift with me when we reached the hotel. I told him, ‘Akash if you get any ball in your range tomorrow, then go for it and smash. Don’t defend compulsorily because you got out defending in the last two innings.’ I am so happy to see a fast bowler score an important fifty for us," he said.
Rahul’s tongue-in-cheek comment
One of the senior batters in the squad, KL Rahul had also talked to Deep. He asked Deep not to throw his wicket away.
“Most of the chatter is always about the bowlers trying to steal our bats," Rahul said.
“Just today, I had a brief chat with him to think like a batter and not throw his wicket away," he added.
What Akash thought about when he went to sleep?
Deep had similar thoughts when he went to sleep after Day 2’s play. More than scoring a fifty, he was happy to spend two hours in the middle.
“When I went to sleep last night, I was thinking I won’t get out — a [good] ball can get me out, but I won’t throw it. Whether I am hit on the body or elsewhere, I’ll play. We needed to play out balls and the partnership of over 100 runs was pretty special. For me, more special than the fifty is playing out two hours for the team," he said.
On Day 4, Deep has his work cut out. England need 324 more runs to win whereas India need nine wickets to level the series. In the first innings, his only scalp was England opener Ben Duckett who remained not out for 34 on Day 3.
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