Akash listened to his Guru, left batting and became a bowler

IND vs ENG: Cricketer from Ranchi, Jharkhand and who recently came into cricket like former World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Akashdeep, wearing the jersey of Team India, has made his Test debut in a royal mood. Akashdeep has made the English batsmen understand through his bowling at Captain Cool’s home ground, JSCA Stadium, Ranchi. However, there are two similarities between Dhoni and Akash Deep. The game played with tennis ball has been responsible for the rise of both. Both of them used to play tennis ball cricket at different places in Asansol and Kolkata and this is another ‘common’ contribution in the upliftment of both the old and the new. He is the one and only Saurabh Ganguly. Let us know his story, in the words of his childhood teachers and friends.

This is how my career started

After the death of his father in 2015 and the demise of his elder brother six months later, Akash Deep came to a complete standstill. On one side was the burden of running his family and on the other side was his passion for cricket. Many years passed in this oh-poh. Ultimately, we got the support of mother Ladduma Devi and the help of Guru Rakesh Singh alias Butcha Singh. Cricket guru showed Akash Deep the right path. Those who were inclined towards batting started encouraging Akashdeep towards bowling. Akash Deep was a very good player since childhood. Now when Guru told him about making a better career in bowling, he started on the same path. Gradually he started sharpening his bowling, as a result of which he started performing better in his domestic matches. At the domestic level, Akashdeep played 25 first class matches, in which he took 90 wickets. During this period, he did the feat of taking five wickets four times, while he took four wickets five times. His best performance in first class cricket in an innings was six wickets for 60 runs. His best performance in a match was 10 wickets for 112 runs. Akash Deep has once done the feat of taking 10 wickets at the domestic level. At the domestic level, in List A matches, Akash Deep took 48 wickets in 28 innings of 28 matches and his best performance was three wickets for six runs. His economy rate in these matches was 482. In T20 cricket, he took 48 wickets in 41 matches and his best performance in this format was four wickets for 35 runs. He scored 375 runs in 25 first class matches and the best score was 53 not out. He did not stop at this and started making noise in national and international cricket matches. Bengal performed very well for its team Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Tournament 2023. Within no time, Akash Deep started making his place in Indian cricket. Due to his performance, he got a chance to play for RCB in IPL. After this, in the year 2023, Akash Deep got a chance to play in place of fast bowler Deepak Chahar in the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa, in which he performed much better. And now in the year 2024, when he replaced Bumrah against England in the fourth Test in Ranchi, Akash Deep proved his talent by defeating the top three batsmen of England.

The game started from Shershah Suri School ground.

His cricket colleagues say that Akashdeep started his game from the high school ground i.e. Shershah Suri School ground. Here he started carving himself. This was the same ground in which former Indian team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had once tried his hand. From the high school ground, Akashdeep headed towards the New Stadium Fazalganj. Where he got a lot of support.

Friends are proud of Akash Deep

About ten years ago, we played many cricket matches together at Sivasagar Stadium. Meanwhile, Akashdeep’s performance has been very good and now even after reaching the Indian cricket team, he is performing well. This is a matter of pride for us friends. Meraj Alam said, ‘Aakash Deep and we have played together in many cricket matches. Almost every match was great. Akash Deep had always been a better player. It is very pleasant for him to play for the country today. This cannot be expressed in words.

Childhood coach Bittu Rain said this

Akashdeep was inclined towards batting. It was not that he was not good at batting. He was a very good player. But, I could see a glimpse of an excellent bowler in him. I was trying to ensure that he bowls only. My heart is very happy to see his bowling today.