The national selectors will be keeping a keen eye on the Irani Trophy match between Jammu & Kashmir and Rest of India, starting in Srinagar on Thursday (October 1), with Akash Deep likely to attract particular attention as the RoI and Bengal pacer returns to competitive cricket after almost six months.
A national selector, likely interim chairman Pragyan Ojha himself, could be present for the match, with greater attention on Akash, who last played a competitive game — a Ranji Trophy match for Bengal against Jammu & Kashmir – in February. He has since been sidelined with a stress fracture, missing the IPL in the process, and has spent most of this period at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, undergoing rehab.
The special attention on the 29-year-old pacer is because of the Indian team management’s view that he is integral to its chances in the two-Test series in New Zealand in November-end. Akash has not played an international fixture since the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at The Oval last August, but he remains highly regarded by the team management.
In 10 Tests, Akash has 28 wickets, with a 10-wicket haul in the Birmingham Test last year. He also played a crucial innings (66) in the Oval Test which India won to square the fiercely-contested Anderson-Tendulkar series in England last year. Coach Gautam Gambhir is believed to be particular that Akash is part of the red ball squad for New Zealand and he may have even conveyed this to the selectors.
Akash Deep was picked for the Rishabh Pant-led Rest of India squad with a ‘subject to fitness’ rider by the selectors. Now that he seems ready to take the field, there is a renewed hope on the right-arm pacer.