[Watch] Akash Deep makes his Test debut for India; receives Test cap from Rahul Dravid

Akash Deep
Akash Deep congratulated by skipper Rohit Sharma.

Right-arm pacer Akash Deep will make his debut for Team India in the fourth Test against England at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi on Friday. This is the third Test cap the hosts have handed in the third and fourth matches of the series.

India have rested ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah for the penultimate game, considering the long season ahead. This opened up a spot, which was deservedly filled by Akash, who has been on the fringes for quite some time now.

The Bengal pacer received his Test cap from head coach Rahul Dravid, with his family watching the proceedings closely from the sidelines. It has been a special effort from the team management to have families present to witness the action live.

Akash, who traveled to Bengal from Bihar to pursue a career in cricket, became the 313th cricketer for India to represent the nation in red-ball cricket.

Watch the clip here:

Akash Deep has quite an impressive first-class record - 104 wickets in 30 games at an average of 23.58. He was also in excellent form for India A against England Lions last month. The 27-year-old picked up 13 wickets from three games, including two four-wicket hauls.

Speaking of the game, Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first. England made two changes to their playing XI, with Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir coming in for Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed, respectively.

India, on the other hand, made the solitary change with Akash Deep coming in for Jasprit Bumrah.


India vs England Playing XIs

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wl), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, and Mohammed Siraj.

England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, Shoaib Bashir, and James Anderson.

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