India pacer Akash Deep’s first notable moment in international cricket was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

With India holding a 2-1 edge going into the fourth Test against England in Ranchi in February, Jasprit Bumrah was rested to manage his workload, which resulted in a debut for Deep, originally from Dehri in Bihar but honing his skills in Kolkata. Having tried out Mukesh Kumar and Prasidh Krishna with limited to no success, India turned to the experience of Deep as they continued their quest for meaningful support for Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami, whose last outing was the World Cup final against Australia last November.

If Deep was nervous, as he most certainly would have been, it didn’t show. It’s not often that India blood a 27-year-old pacer, and that too in a home Test, so Deep must have construed it as a show of huge confidence by the leadership group in his abilities. His first ball at the highest level, to Ben Duckett, was clocked at 139 kmph. In the same over, he screamed past the left-hander’s outside edge with a ball that held its line.

It was his 11th delivery in Test cricket that thrust Deep into the limelight. It cut back a mile, stayed down just a touch, blazed between Zak Crawley’s front pad and bat and sent his off-stump cartwheeling. Deep leapt into the air and punched his fist as his colleagues swarmed around him. Then came the dreaded siren, indicating that he had overstepped. In the blink of an eye, he traversed the spectrum from ecstasy to agony. How would he react?

Brilliantly, was the answer. Somehow summoning the fortitude to put that shattering incident behind him, Deep kept plugging away. From over the stumps and round it. To the left-hander, and the right. Nipping the ball in, then getting it out. It was impressive, this display of mind over matter. The rewards would come soon.

Duckett was his first victim, caught behind sparring outside off. A few minutes later, Ollie Pope was trapped in front, then Deep cleaned up Crawley for the second time in an hour, the right-hander again bowled through the gate after being beaten on the inside-edge. In seven exceptional overs which fetched him three for 24, Deep had stolen a serious march over his contenders.

Well begun, however, is only half done. Deep didn’t play in the final Test in Dharamsala when Bumrah returned and might have reconciled himself to a long stint on the sidelines, given that India’s next five Tests would all be at home after a six-month hiatus when spin was expected to be the preferred mode of attack.

Except, that it hasn’t been in the first two Tests against Bangladesh. India have broken from tradition, opting to play three pacers in a home Test after five years, and Deep has cashed in, making a strong case for his inclusion in the squad that will travel to Australia in November.

Indeed, on current form, Deep has nudged ahead of Siraj, which is saying something. Lest that should be considered mere hyperbole, one only has to see how he has bowled in the two and bit innings against Bangladesh, not merely how many wickets he has taken.

Australia calling for Akash Deep

In Chennai in the first innings, he was virtually unplayable when bowling to the left-handers from round the stumps, angling the ball in and then either getting it to straighten or shape away. He clean bowled Zakir Hasan and Mominul Haque off successive deliveries, both left-handers befuddled by his craft. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja did the trick in the second dig but on a truncated day one of the second Test in Kanpur on Friday, Deep shaded even Bumrah in patches, which is no mean accomplishment.

Extending his liking for left-handers, he had Zakir superbly caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully and pinged Shadman Islam in front with a delivery that came in with the angle. That he had the confidence to convince Rohit Sharma to opt for a review when no one else seemed even half-sure that the appeal had any merit also speaks to his belief in himself and a freedom in communication that has been visibly encouraged in the Rohit captaincy era.

To say that Deep has a foot and a half on the flight to Australia will be no exaggeration. He is brisk without being express, is skilled with old ball and new, and should ask serious questions Down Under, where the extra bounce will be his ally. Thrown into the Deep end, this Akash certainly isn’t floundering.

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