From losing his father and brother in 2 months to making it to the Indian cricket team - the story of Akash Deep

Akash Deep became the 313th player to play test cricket for India.

Akash Deep made a grand debut for India in the ongoing fourth test as the 313th player to play test cricket for the team. England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first. Akash Deep was preferred as a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah over his Bengal teammate Mukesh Kumar for this test.

Akash almost had his first test wicket pretty early on, when he castled Zak Crawley with a beauty of an in-swinger. But the ball was a no-ball and Akash deep was left to rue his mistake. But soon enough, he had his first wicket in the form of Ben Duckett, who was caught behind by Dhruv Jurel.

Two balls later, he had Ollie Pope out LBW, thanks to a brilliant use of DRS by Rohit Sharma. Akash Deep continued his brilliance and finally got Crawley out, clean bowled. The delivery was similar to one he had bowled earlier and this time as well, Crawley was late in playing the ball and lost his stumps.

Akash Deep led the team off the field for lunch break and was lauded not only by his teammates but the whole crowd as well.

Akash Deep- rising to play cricket for India despite losing his father just a few months ago

Akash Deep hails from Sasaram, Bihar and moved to Durgapur, a town in West Bengal, in 2010 to continue his passion for playing cricket. This was despite his father, Ramji Singh not wanting him to waste time on the sport and find a job instead. In Durgapur, he and his cousin went to a local academy, but the passing of his father meant that he missed the game for three years.

“My father had a stroke and then he passed away after a brief struggle with paralysis three years ago. Two months after his death, my older brother passed away. He had common cold, fever. It hadn’t come down for a few days and we went to a doctor, who didn’t diagnose his problem properly. We had to go to Banaras [Varanasi] for treatment and he died on the way. I was emotionally and mentally down. There was no money in the house, I had my mother to take care of,” Akash told ESPNCricinfo.

After three years, he moved to Kolkata and was picked in United Club in CAB’s Second Division League. He was impressive enough to be picked in the Bengal U-23 team in 2019 and shortly made his Bengal Ranji debut as well.

Luck shined on Akash Deep and he then was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL 2022 auction since then in two seasons, he has 6 wickets in 7 matches. He was retained before the IPL 2024 auction and is expected to lead the RCB attack with Mohammed Siraj.

All the hard work and sacrifices of Akash came to fruition on February 23, 2024, when after receiving his maiden India call-up, he was preferred over his Bengal teammate Mukesh Kumar. Akash Deep was handed his India debut test cap by coach Rahul Dravid and became the 313th player to play the red-ball format for India.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.