Sunil Gavaskar asserted that Akash Deep bowled splendidly to offset Jasprit Bumrah’s absence in the Ranchi Test against England.
Reiterating his recent remark about Team India punching above their weight in the absence of household names, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar opened discussions about Rohit Sharma and Co. resting pace ace Jasprit Bumrah in the Ranchi Test against England. India’s vice-captain in the England series, pacer Bumrah was released from the Test squad in the lead-up to the Ranchi showdown against Ben Stokes’ men last month.
Sunil Gavaskar shared his views about India’s brave call to rest Bumrah (PTI-HT)
Already without former skipper Virat Kohli and ex-vice-captain KL Rahul, Bumrah-less India crushed England to seal the five-match series in Ranchi. Making an instant impact in his debut game, pacer Akash Deep successfully shouldered the burden of replacing Bumrah at Ranchi. The 27-year-old picked up the three crucial wickets in the form of Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope during the 1st innings of the 4th Test.
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Sunil Gavaskar gives two cents on NCA’s brave call
Pacer Akash Deep received a special mention from batting legend Gavaskar in the latter’s column for the Mid Day. Interestingly, Gavaskar also opened up about India’s bold decision to not use Bumrah in the Test series decider against England. “Despite bowling just 15 overs in the first innings and then eight overs in the second innings of the third Test at Rajkot, Bumrah was rested for Ranchi presumably on the trainer’s recommendation,” Gavaskar mentioned.
‘Why was Bumrah rested?’
“Don’t forget there was a nine-day break between the second Test and third Test match and then bowling 23 overs in the entire game is not tiring at all, so why was Bumrah rested? After the fourth Test there was going to be another eight-days break before the final Test match; enough time for supremely fit athletes to recover and be ready to play for the country,” the former Indian skipper continued.
How Akash Deep performed for Bumrah-less India
Fast bowler Akash Deep was even praised by skipper Rohit Sharma for his sensational debut against England in Ranchi. Debutant in MS Dhoni’s den, Akash Deep bagged three wickets in the 19 overs of the 1st innings. The pacer was not used by skipper Rohit in the second innings of the series decider. It will be interesting to see whether Akash Deep retains his place in the Indian XI following the return of speedster Bumrah.
‘As skipper Rohit Sharma said…’
“The fourth Test also was a crucial game as, if England had won that, the final Test would have been the decider. So, whether it was the NCA or Bumrah who took the call, it wasn’t in the Indian team’s immediate interest. That young Akash Deep bowled splendidly to offset Bumrah’s absence, once again showed that it doesn’t matter if the big names don’t play there will always be young guns who would be only too happy and as the skipper Rohit Sharma said, be hungry to play for India and to bear any hardship for the honour and privilege of playing for your country,” Gavaskar added.
