Akash Deep repaid the faith shown in him by captain Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir by turning in a match-winning performance in India’s second Test against England and powering their first-ever win at Edgbaston. Akash Deep sat out the first Test and came in as replacement for the rested Jasprit Bumrah. He returned figures of 4/88 and 6/99 in the two innings.
The fast bowler took as many as four wickets on Day 5 alone to add to the two he had got towards the end of Day 4. He dedicated his performance on the fifth day to his sister, who he said is suffering from cancer. “My older sister is suffering from cancer for the last two months. Now she is stable. She will be very happiest after all that she has gone through mentally and I dedicate this match to her. I want to see a smile on her face,” Deep said on Star Sports.
“This performance is for you. Whenever I picked the ball, only thoughts of my sister crossed my mind. I am with you. I want to see happiness on your face we are all together with you,” he further said. Deep had struck twice on Day 4 and he ended up adding to his tally in just the fourth over of Sunday, dismissing Pope on 24 off 50. He then sent back Brook in his very next over, leaving England gasping for breath at 83/5.
Deep was then back among the wickets in the second session, dismissing Jamie Smith, who went for one six too many, with a well-timed slow short ball and thus completing his five-wicket haul. He then ended the match by taking his sixth wicket as Brydon Carse holed out at cover to none other than India captain Shubman Gill, whose astonishing double century in the first innings and century in the second won him the player of the match.
England were all out for 271, having been asked to chase a mammoth target of 608 by India. Gill has thus become the first captain to lead India to victory in a Test match at Edgbaston, a final record to square off what has been an incredible match for him personally in which he scored a 269 in the first innings and 161 in the second. This was India’s ninth Test at the ground, having first played here in July 1967, and their best result before this was a draw that they managed in 1986 under Kapil Dev.
