Former India player Saba Karim has praised Akash Deep for bowling an impressive spell in the second Test against England. He shared that the Bengal pacer has learned a lot from Mohammad Shami, his teammate in domestic cricket as well. He claimed 10 wickets across innings as well.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Saba said, “It shows that he has prepared very well. He has the ability to move the ball off the wicket because the seam position at the time of release is fabulous. He has learned a lot from Mohammad Shami.”

“He has spent time with Shami while playing first-class cricket. The only thing he (Shami) has taught him is that if his wrist position is good and the ball is released properly, it doesn’t matter whether the pitch is flat or not, and that he needs to concentrate only on seam movement. If that happens, he would definitely get wickets, and that’s what Akash Deep did here,” he further added.

Former India player Aakash Chopra also added that Akash Deep justified his selection in India’s playing XI for the second Test as well.

“Akash Deep proved that his selection was absolutely right. He is basically your quintessential new-ball bowler. To be fair, this is a quintessential new-ball pitch as well. In the first 30 overs, the batters’ error percentage is high, but as soon as the ball becomes older than 30 overs or so, the control percentage just shoots up,” he said in a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra.’

“Akash Deep picked up wickets with the first new ball. Then he took wickets when the second new ball came as well. He bowls consistently at one spot, and the ball moves slightly left or right. He might not bowl at 140-145 kph, but he consistently bowls at one pace. It also shows that if you have sweated it out in first-class cricket, you eventually reap the rewards of that,” Aakash Chopra concluded.