The Indian team management decided to use seamer Akash Deep as a nightwatchman on Day 4 at Lord's.
When India lost their skipper Shubman Gill during the third session of the fourth day’s play at Lord’s, 20 minutes were still remaining for stumps. Gill’s dismissal reduced the visitors 53/3 in the chase of 193.
As this point, the Indian team management decided to use seamer Akash Deep as a nightwatchman. It was a last-minute call as the tourists wanted to protect wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, with Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar as the other players who could bat.
The move to send Akash did succeed to a certain extent as India lost his wicket only two balls before stumps.
After the close of play, legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin weighed in on the decision to send Akash at No. 5, revealing how Pant does not like to bat during the closing stages of the match could well have explained the call.
“I’ll tell you a story. Remember that Test match in Mirpur when India were chasing some 140 runs to win? So I was sitting and relaxing in the dressing room after bowling. It was all hot and humid. I was sitting next to the analyst and Rahul Dravid (head coach) was there a little further. After we lost the first two wickets, Rishabh said ‘main nahi ja raha batting karne’ (I am not going out to bat) to Rahul bhai. There was a good 30-40 minutes left. But he said I am not going. When the next wicket fell and the No. 4 batter was supposed to go in, he went inside and they had to send Axar Patel first, I guess, and then Jaydev Unadkat to go in as the nightwatchman," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin mentioned another incident from not too long ago, when Pant was hesitant to bat during the last few minutes of the day.
“Rishabh does not like batting in the last 30-40 minutes of the day. That’s why they sent Akash Deep. But see, it is about protecting your best batter, yes. But when you send a batter like Akash Deep and then he gets out, it puts you in even more of a situation. When we were playing against New Zealand, the same thing happened. When Virat Kohli got out, Rishabh was not in a mood to go out. Then we had to Siraj. And when he got out, again a proper batter had to go out," Ashwin added.
“All in all, it is a catch-22, but today it was ok because it was only 20-25 minutes. Because you want 190, and protecting Rishabh is important. So it’s a good decision that he made. But all in all, I want to see how Rishabh goes about his business. The right strategy was to ensure Rahul bats long, but Rishabh could have gone in. 30-40 runs is crucial I'm such a low-chasing total," he further remarked.
Coming to the Lord’s Test, India finished Day 4’s play at 58/4 in 17.4 overs after bowling England out for 192 in the second innings. The visitors need 135 more runs on the final day to win the game and go 2-1 up in the five-Test series.
On the other hand, the Three Lions are just six wickets away from registering a memorable win at the iconic venue.