India vs Australia: Can Akash Deep make the difference Down Under?

With uncertainty over Shami's fitness, selectors need to zero in on pace slots for all-important 5-Test tour of Australia
KANPUR: Akash Deep is only into his third Test match but he has managed to bring assurance and calm to the proceedings. These are anxious times for the Indian team management and the selectors as they wait for veteran pacer Mohammed Shami to get back to competitive cricket after a yearlong absence due to his Achilles tendon injury.

With another three home Tests to go before India embark on the five-Test tour of Australia in Nov, the pace attack is still quite a distance from being formalized.

It was in Australia four years ago that India declared themselves as one of the superpowers in fast bowling as they unleashed all of their resources. This time, India are again in rebuilding mode.

Unlike the scenario five years ago when there were four fast bowlers in Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav who would pick themselves - with Mohammed Siraj waiting in the wings - the team management has to first zero in on its first three pacers keeping the uncertainty around Shami in mind.

India's previous bowling coach Paras Mhambrey feels Akash fits the bill. He has seen Akash's impressive debut against England at home earlier this year.

"Akash has done a lot of bowling in domestic cricket. He understands what needs to be done. He also relies a lot on seam movement. You need that kind of bowler in Australia who can nip it around off the seam," Mhambrey told TOI.

The selectors' challenge will be to pick five pacers for the Australia tour. Workload management is expected to be in full swing. Even if Shami gets fit, there needs to be one more pacer besides Bumrah, Siraj and Akash. "We are lucky to have someone like Bumrah who loves to play Test cricket. But Bumrah and Shami need to be rested in the middle of a long series. That's when the strategic selection comes into play," Mhambrey said.

The team management and the selectors are keen on having a left-arm option, it is learnt. Yash Dayal is already with the team in the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh. Khaleel Ahmed and Arshdeep Singh are the other two con tenders. Dayal, at the moment, seems to be ahead in the race.

"With Ashwin in the team and hopefully Kuldeep Yadav, a left-armer could be a strategic pick to create rough outside the off-stump. I feel Arshdeep maybe needs a bit more time to grow with the red ball but Dayal looks as someone who could hit the deck," feels Mhambrey.

"First things first, you need bowlers who can hit the deck hard and derive seam movement in Australia. The Kookaburra balls are best to bowl within the first 30 overs. After that the conditions become very flat. That's where someone like Prasidh Krishna could come in handy. Like Akash, Krishna is also tall and can extract more out of the surface. Our team management had invested heavily," he added.

Here's the catch. The ones who engineered the dramatic win in the last Australia tour were groomed thoroughly by Rahul Dravid and Mhambrey at NCA through a rigorous India 'A' programme. Familiarity with the Kookaburra ball in overseas conditions wasn't a problem for the fresh faces who had come into the team five years ago even when Ishant, Shami and Umesh weren't available.

"It's true that we used up all the resources we had created at NCA. But these boys are given Kookaburra balls in India itself to get used to before going on a tour. Akash Deep has done so much bowling over the last five-six years that his body is ready to go through that kind of grind. Krishna has a bit of experience of bowling with these balls since he was a big part of our programme," Mhambrey opined.

"Even if either of Bumrah and Shami is unavailable, you don't need to speak a lot to these boys to boost their confidence to lead an attack because of the number of overs they bowled to get to this level," he added.

The next three Tests against New Zealand and Shami's possible return in domestic cricket next month should offer some clarity on how well our pace resources are placed for the Australia tour.


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