On Day 3, Akash Deep hit his first international half-century for India in the second innings of the fifth and final Test match at The Oval in London. The Bengal seamer had come in as the nightwatchman at the end of Day 2 and faced only two deliveries. On Saturday, August 2, the 28-year-old demonstrated tenacity and desire to thwart England’s bowlers, while forming a key combination with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Dinesh Karthik stated that the Indian team management would have preferred Deep to bat out the last few deliveries on Day 2. However, the Dehri-born did not stop there. Karthik observed that India received far more than they could have asked for from Deep. The former cricketer also felt that England didn’t assist their situation by passing up regulation opportunities.
“They couldn’t have asked anything more from him. All they wanted him to do was to probably just get past last night, which he did quite comfortably. Today, he came out there and played wonderfully well. Gave a chance early, they put down chances, that is what happens. That is the last thing you want. As it is, you are a depleted bowling attack, and then when you put down simple ones, it gets even tougher,” Karthik told Sky Sports Cricket.
“He got lucky as well. A couple of the balls that he ended up edging just went in the gap. All in all, I think it was a wonderful effort. You pretty much can assess and understand the mindset of a team, depending on how your tailenders play. Akash Deep’s effort as a batter- you could see the applause that he got when he went back in – means so much for the team.
Akash Deep amassed 66 runs off 94 balls, hitting 12 boundaries.
He was dismissed on the stroke of Lunch by Jamie Overton. Karthik believes that Deep’s knock has taken India to a strong position, and the batters to follow can help the visitors bat England out of the Test match.
“What he’s done is actually take India into a very strong position and from here on, you’d expect the batters to bat on and take India into a very strong place and very good place,” Karthik asserted.
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