Exclusive: Akash Deep on Learning from Bumrah, Battling Abroad, and Eyeing a Bigger Role for India

India introduces new fast bowlers every Test season. Right-arm quick Akash Deep is the find of 2024. With an action similar to that of Mohammed Shami, he returned 15 wickets in seven Tests last year.

Akash bowled with a lot of heart under ICC No. 1 ranked-pacer Jasprit Bumrah's guidance in the high-pressure tour of Australia. Unfortunately, he missed the Sydney Test in January due to a back injury. The 28-year-old recently completed his recovery at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. 

He is likely to retain his spot in the new ICC World Test Championship Cycle starting June 20 with the tour of England.

Learning from Bumrah in Australia

The speedster felt he had the perfect red-ball erudition in the tour Down Under. Bumrah set the bar high, and he had to maintain parity. 

"As a fast bowler, Australia is the best place to earn. And in such countries, you know that you need to get the batter out, come what may, so you keep looking for avenues to get wickets. You keep looking for tools to frustrate the batter. You have to boost yourself to keep going even after bowling long spells," he told Sportsboom.com. 

Akash praised Bumrah for bringing the best out of him. 

"Any bowler would want to bowl in tandem with the world's best fast bowler. When you share the ball with him, there is no room for mistakes. It is high-quality bowling. When I am bowling the next over after his, I have to maintain the pressure that he creates from the other end. Automatically, you will tend to get better as a bowler. The game awareness and mindset had to improve while playing with him. If it didn't, I could have looked very ordinary," added the bowler, who dismissed Alex Carey twice, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh and Nathan McSweeney.

No spin cushion abroad

Akash felt playing in India offers the spin cushion for breakthroughs, which places like Australia don't. 

"In India, you have a mindset that even if the fast bowlers don't pick up wickets early on, the spinners definitely will, but when you are playing outside India, you have to understand that a fast bowler needs to cause these dismissals. You can improve organically with this mindset."

Working on batting

Apart from his bowling, Akash earned praises for smashing Pat Cummins out of the park in Brisbane with a powerful bat swing en route to his crucial 31. He is trying to upgrade himself as a batter to help India win more matches. 

"In today's cricket, the No. 7 to No. 9 batters contribute to the win percentage. Scoring 30-40-odd runs makes a lot of difference. If these three batters add 100 runs, the win percent increases, and our job is to help the team. It doesn't matter if I have to bat for one or two hours to stick around. I will try to do my job."

"When you score these bonus runs, it is an advantage. I am trying to improve my batting. The position where I bat, if I score 20-30 runs, it will help the team."

Mohammed Shami in Champions Trophy

India's premier fast bowler Shami, Akash's senior in his domestic Bengal side, is expected to fire at the ICC Champions Trophy starting on Wednesday. The youngster felt Shami would make a statement in the event. 

"Shami is a big-match player. He is a match-winner and a champion. He has contributed on big platforms. There are some players who are meant for big events, and I am sure he will make a strong comeback with the ball in the Champions Trophy."

Akash will be next seen in action at the Indian Premier League for Lucknow Super Giants under Rishabh Pant's leadership. 

"Pant plays with a lot of freedom, so you know how much freedom the players will have. When the captain is cool, there is not much pressure," he signed off.