IPL 2022: "There was no electricity so we had to rent a generator" - Akash Deep reveals how he got inspired by India's 2007 T20 World Cup win

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Akash Deep has revealed that it was India's T20 World Cup win over Pakistan in 2007 that inspired him to play cricket professionally.

The 25-year-old, who has come from a very humble background, shared a story on how he watched the epic finale. There was no electricity in his village that day and it meant that they had to arrange for a generator by collecting money from everyone.

In a video posted by RCB on YouTube, Akash Deep explained the difficulty with which the arrangements were made in his village that day to watch the final. He said:

"It was the 2007 finals against Pakistan. There was no electricity in my village so we had to rent a generator with crowd funding in our locality to arrange a community screening on a TV that was not big enough for everyone to see."

The pacer also shed light on how the celebrations of the village after the win made him think about playing cricket professionally. He said:

"Seeing the enormous crowd as a kid I was very fascinated and after India won the World Cup, seeing the passion and emotions, I started dreaming of playing cricket as a profession."

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Getting debut cap from Virat Bhaiya was a proud moment for me: Akash Deep

Akash Deep was announced as a replacement for the injured Washington Sundar in the second half of the IPL 2021 season for RCB. He finally made his debut in RCB's opening game this season and got the cap from former skipper Virat Kohli.

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The 25-year-old expressed how happy he was to receive the cap from his idol. Like Kohli, he, too, is quite serious about maintaining high fitness standards. He stated:

"The biggest joy was of getting the debut cap and a proud moment for me was that I got it from Virat Bhaiya, whom I have admired the most ever since I started playing cricket professionally. He has been the flag bearer of the fitness revolution in Indian cricket and I myself like fitness activities."

Akash has picked up five wickets from four games so far this season. If he continues to perform consistently, this could well be a breakout season for him.