London [UK], August 3 : Akash Deep walked in as a night watchman at No. 4 late on Day 2 of the final Test against England at The Oval. Not many would've expected him to last long, but by the end of Day 3, the pacer had made a determined knock of 66 off 94 balls, a crucial contribution that helped India post 396 on the board.
The Indian Cricket Team posted on their official Instagram handle, where everybody shared their thoughts on Akash's batting.
Akash shared a glimpse into his mindset before walking out to bat.
"When I went to sleep last night, my mindset was that I don't want to get out. Even if the ball makes me out, I don't want to be out. Even if the ball is on the body, I want to play," he said.
Akash stitched a vital 107-run stand with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, playing the perfect foil and frustrating the English attack.
"Where there was a need to play the ball, we set up a 100-run partnership with Jashu (Yashasvi Jaiswal). So this is very special for me. The fifty is special, but more than that, the two hours that I played for the team in the morning is even more special," he added.
Jaiswal, who watched the fight from the other end, was all praise for his partner.
"I think it's just wonderful the way he batted. We were having a good chat in the middle. Yeah, I hope he'll keep doing this for us," he said.
India skipper Shubman Gill, who asked the bowlers about helping with the bat, had nothing but admiration for Akash's knock.
"Since a long time, we have been having a banter. The batsmen keep telling the bowlers to contribute. When he went to bat this morning, we told him one thing, if there is a ball in your radar, try to make full use of it. I think his 66 runs, it's no less than a century," Gill said, underlining the value of the innings.
Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, too, revealed a crucial conversation that took place in the hotel lift.
"Yesterday, he was in the lift. So I told him, Akash, if you get it in range tomorrow, you should hit it. Don't go for compulsory defence because you've been out in the last two innings. It's so happy to see a fast bowler scoring an important fifty for us," Kotak said.
Senior batter KL Rahul also had a quiet word with Akash before the start of play.
"Most of the chat is always about the bowlers trying to steal our bats," he joked.
"This morning, I told him to think like a batter, not throw his wicket away, and enjoy himself while being responsible. I think he did all of that. I'm really happy," said Rahul.
Fellow pacer Prasidh Krishna said, "Yeah, I think it was due for Akash. It was really important, both the runs he scored and the time he spent out there. It gave us that push."
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With his maiden Test fifty, Akash Deep joins an elite list along, Hugh Trumble, Shane Warne, Imran Khan, Keith Miller and Richard Hadlee to become the 12th player with a ten-fer during a match and a fifty on an England tour.
Deep, with a first-class average of 11.48 before the Oval Test, is just the fourth Indian to score a men's Test fifty at No.4 in England this century, joining Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill.
Deep mesmerised one and all with a ten-wicket haul in a critic-silencing, era-defining win over England at Edgbaston by 336 runs, their first-ever Test win at the venue last month. During the Test match, Akash set a massive record, delivering India's best spell ever in England.
The pacer etched his name in the record books by registering the best bowling figures in a match for India in England, surpassing the long-standing record held by Chetan Sharma. Deep's match figures of 10/187 edged past Sharma's 10/188.
Deep is also the first Indian nightwatchman to score 50-plus runs since Amit Mishra (84 runs) against the same opponent at the same venue back in 2011.
The duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Akash Deep added 107 runs for the third wicket on Day 3 in the series decider. This partnership was the 18th 100-run stand in this ongoing England tour, the most in a Test series in this century (since 2000), surpassing 17 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2003-04.
The partnership between Jaiswal-Deep was a turning point in India's second innings as they lost KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan for low scores on Day 2.