2nd Test: Akash Deep stars as rain halts India charge, Bangladesh resistance

Akash Deep was the star of the show for India on Day 1 of the Kanpur Test, which was marred heavily by rain on Friday, September 27.

Bangladesh offered resistance in the form of Mominul Haque, who scored 40 off 81 balls as the visitors ended the day on 107/3 in 35 overs as stumps was called early due to incessant rain. Akash had picked up 2 wickets in the form of the openers to give India an early upper hand but Bangladesh showed some fight in Kanpur.

India had won the toss on the day and decided to field, something done for the first time in 60 years at the ground. The hosts decided to stick to the winning formula from Chennai as they went with 3 pacers and 2 spinners, resisting the urge to bring in either Kuldeep Yadav or Axar Patel. The ball was doing some mischief off the Green Park pitch early on as both the Bangladesh openers were tested by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

Once the initial phase was over, runs did start to flow for the visitors. Rohit would bring in the changes quickly with Akash Deep and Ashwin coming into play. The pacer would then give India the breakthrough as Yashasvi Jaiswal took another stunner to see the back of Zakir Hasan, who was dismissed for a 24-ball duck. This would see India have their tails up as the pacer got the second one in the form of Shadman Islam, after a long appeal and convincing Rohit Sharma.

Najimul Shanto, who was the star with the bat in the second innings of the first Test, decided to come in at No.3 and stitched together an important 51-run stand along with Mominul as the duo put India at bay till lunch. Rain would come at the moment the players left the field as we witnessed another delay in proceedings.

Once the game restarted, it was R Ashwin who ended the resistance of Shanto with a fine delivery. Mominul would continue to chip away and score some exquisite shots as the light started to fade yet again. The umpires would call off play due to bad light and the conditions quickly became worse as the whole ground had to be covered and stumps called in early as there was no signs of the weather becoming favourable.

Akash Deep continues to make the case for Australia
When you look at Akash Deep bowling in full tilt, it is easy to mistake him for Mohammed Shami. The stump to stump line is almost identical and the young pacer doesn’t allow the batters to have any margin for error.

In the Chennai Test, Akash’s spell would wreck the top order of Bangladesh in the first innings, which ultimately led to their collapse. The pacer is staying grounded and looking ahead to what is in front of him at the moment and stated it during the press conference on Thursday.

“When we play at this level, we should not get confused that I played a certain style at that level (Ranji) and things are different here. I don’t put too much pressure that I need to go to Australia and all that. I live in the present. It remains simple for me,” said Akash.

While he may be humble enough to bid away his time regarding the tour down under, it seems inevitable that the pacer will be on that flight for Australia.