Spoke to Mohammed Shami on how to get ball to come back in: Akash Deep

Mohammed Shami & Akash Deep. (Photo Source: X/Twitter)

Akash Deep has been named in the India squad for the first Test against Bangladesh starting on September 19 at Chennai. The pacer was impressive in his outing for India A in the Duleep Trophy 2024 game against India B. His nine-wicket haul in the match was enough to earn the spot and Akash revealed how he tackled Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy who were well-versed with his bowling.

Star Indian pacer, Mohammed Shami’s famous one-on-one with England all-rounder, Ben Stokes in the ODI World Cup 2023 game, gave butterflies in every fan’s stomach. Shami sprayed the ball on the same spot, deviated the balls, and plucked Stokes out in the end. Akash further added that an elaborate discussion with Shami over bringing the ball in with the angle to a left-hander helped his cause.

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“The balls I bowled to Nitish Reddy [in the first innings] and Washington Sundar [in the second innings]. I had been bowling a lot to him [Washington] from around the wicket in the nets. He has been batting a lot against me and had got used to it. So I wanted to do something that I hadn’t done against him before,” said Akash as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“When you bowl to a left-hander from around the wicket, the ball moves naturally towards the shine. I spoke to him [Shami] about how to get the ball to come back in [with the angle]. I have seen him do that,” he added.

Shami has cautioned me against trying it a lot: Akash

As the 27-year-old stated of his senior colleagues getting used to his bowling, the youngster was provided the same advice over bringing the ball in. Shami’s strength while bowling has been the use of the shine of the ball to mix it up with repeated lengths. The 34-year-old’s stay at NCA seems to have worked for Akash, as he was cautioned to not focus merely on bowling the angling in ball, but rather with a slight mix-up.

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“He advised me not to focus too much on bringing it in. He said it will automatically come over time and when it does, it will become a wicket-taking ball. Because if it keeps going out, and then you are able to bring it back in with the shine, it’s tough for batsmen. But he has cautioned me against trying it a lot. But as a bowler, if you’re able to do it, then batters will have a tendency to chase balls away as well,” Akash concluded.