India pacer Akash Deep shared his experience of bowling on English tracks during the recently held Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, claiming that it was more challenging than he first thought.
The right-arm seamer returned with 13 wickets in the three Tests he played, including a 10-wicket haul in visitors’ historic 336-run victory at Edgbaston.
Speaking to CNN-News18 Cricketnext, Akash opened up on the challenges he faced while bowling in English conditions for the first time. He gave a cheeky reply when asked about the English pitches, which have historically assisted the pace bowlers.
"Actually, when I was in India, I was very happy just thinking about going to England to play. I had heard so much about those conditions. But when I actually went there and saw the wickets and the conditions myself, it was very different from what I'd imagined. I recalled the scene from that Hindi movie (Run), 'Chhoti Ganga bata kar naale mein kuda diya'. (laughs) That's exactly how it felt," Akash said.
Since there was no natural assistance on offer, Akash focused on bowling in the right areas. "Because there was no swing, no seam movement, runs were flowing freely - teams were making 400-plus scores. But I still had to play that match. So, I told myself: the only thing in my control is to put the ball in the right areas. If I start overthinking the conditions, I'll only put more pressure on myself. So, I stuck to that - bowling in the right areas, sticking to my strengths," he added.
When the Shubman Gill-led side landed in England, no one gave the tourists a chance following the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin. But the team in transition proved everyone wrong as they gave the hosts a run of their money in all five Test matches and managed to the level the series 2-2.
Coming to Akash Deep, he is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. As a result of the minor injury, he hasn’t been named in East Zone's squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy quarterfinal match against North Zone.
