'I wanted to see a smile on her face': Emotional Akash Deep dedicates Edgbaston heroics to his ailing sister

The beauty of sport is that it has a virtual healing power. It may not solve your everyday life problems but gives you the much-needed diversions that could give you an avenue to rejuvenate yourself. Cricket, especially the longest format, takes a lot out of the player mentally as it does physically. 'Survival of the fittest' is perhaps a quote best suited for Tests and for Akash Deep, the grind has been everlasting.

 

Hours and hours of practice in the nets, and then in First-class cricket where he kept churning out wickets day in and day out for Bengal. His ability to bowl long spells with accuracy and get movement off the seam meant that he was tailor-made for Tests, especially those outside Asia. At Edgbaston, he showed all his wares with a crafty performance that saw him comfortably outbowl even England's pacers on a flat pitch. After his terrific ten-wicket match haul, Deep dedicated the magical performance to his ailing sister who has been suffering from cancer.

 

"I have not told this to anyone. My elder sister has been suffering from cancer for the last two months," said Deep after the match to the official broadcasters.

 

"She is now stable, and she is fine. I think she will be the happiest on seeing my performance. I want to dedicate this match to her. I want to see a smile on her face."

 

With the boundary dimensions made shorter and a docile pitch rolled out, the only chance for bowlers was with the new ball and it was a phase where both teams had to maximise it. Call it the rub of the green or whatever else you want but two umpire's call decisions on DRS saved India on the first morning when they could easily have been 21/3 at one point. Chris Woakes was breathing fire then and threatening to slice through the Indian batting line-up. Instead, the visitors piled on the runs and when they come to bowl, Deep was ready.

 

On a surface where England's bowlers conceded 587 and 427 respectively, Deep managed to extract enough tricks out of nowhere. His ability to hit the seam on awkward lengths consistently spelt terror for England's batters. Barring Joe Root and to an extent Ben Stokes, most of England's specialist batters have flaws in technique, more so against the moving ball. It is, therefore, not surprising that the home side has opted for flatter batting pitches.

 

However, the thing with English pitches is that even when they are at their flattest, there will be a little something for the seamers to work with, if they are smart about it. That is precisely what Deep did. He used the width of the crease cleverly, going wide of the crease often to disrupt the tempo of the batters. One such piece of magic accounted for Root (in the second innings) who had no clue to a delivery that angled in and straightened ever so slightly, past his attempted flick shot to crash into the stumps.

 

Harry Brook also got a corker in the second innings as a delivery jagged back in a country mile from outside off just as he was trying to play it square through the off-side. It beat his inside edge and disturbed the timber, making him look very silly indeed. For India, Deep's spells were as crucial as Shubman Gill's scores of 269 and 161 as 20 wickets weren't an easy task to achieve on this pitch.

 

Deep, surprisingly left out initially in Australia and then here at Headingley, put on a bowling masterclass that has all but confirmed his selection for Lord's, even with Jasprit Bumrah set to return. It would mean that the struggling Prasidh Krishna would have to make way with Deep in such stellar rhythm.

 

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