Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes Akash Deep should have been awarded Player of the Match against England in the second Test at Edgbaston. Deep bagged figures of 10-187 in the match, which is the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler in English conditions.
While Deep picked 4-88 in the first innings, he took 6-99 in the second essay. Deep was right on the money with his line and length and reaped rewards for pitching the ball in the right areas. On a flat deck, Deep was able to get seam and swing and troubled the English batters.
On the other hand, Indian captain Shubman Gill was awarded Player of the Match after he aggregated 430 runs in the Test match. Gill scored a magnum opus knock of 269 runs in the first innings and he backed it with another fine knock of 161 in the second essay.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “This might be a big statement to make, but Akash Deep should have been awarded the Player of the match. Shubman Gill batted beautifully, no amount of praise would be enough. Gill has created history, records are there to be made and he’s re-written it, no doubt about it.”
“But all said and done, Akash Deep’s six-fer in the second innings and his four wickets in the first innings. Because of those four wickets, Siraj was able to get the six wickets in the first innings. Akash Deep was delivering the ball from different angles with the same wrist position. I don’t have a problem with the man of the match. I don’t buy the theory about heroes. In an IPL match, there are super fours, super sixes, super 12s, fastest delivery you give all these awards. You can give them in Tests as well, bowler of the match and batsman of the match.”
Ashwin noted that Deep induced a false shot from English batters after every five balls and had a false percentage of 22.8% in his bowling in the second Test.
“Arshdeep Singh performs in the IPL, swings the ball in white-ball cricket but bear in mind that Akash Deep’s performances in first-class cricket. Look at his impact at Edgbaston. His impact is such that he has been able to generate a false shot percentage of 22.8%. He is defeating one in every five balls. In a sample size of 10 balls, he is creating two false shots. That is a lot.”
“In a 40-over span, he has obviously gone a higher economy rate, England have tried to take him on. England, all-in-all, are stuck. For the next Test match they will want some life in the pitch. When they have life in the pitch, I want to see them play Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah on how they are going to bat. This is serious, serious problems for England. This Test series is wide and open and I won’t be surprised if India go on to dominate the series from here on.”
The third Test match between India and England will be played at Lord’s, London from 10th July onwards.
