Australian pacer Josh Hazelwood once gave an important bit of advice to Akash Deep. This was 2022 and the two were pace partners at Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Actually, they were master and apprentice. The Aussie would talk, the Indian would listen. Hazelwood would tell Akash Deep that Test cricket was all about length and bowling on the off-stump line got him many wickets. “Stick to your strength and wait for the batsmen to commit a mistake” – would be the core of the Aussie pacer’s sermon.
The plan got Akash Deep two wickets in one over as England finished Day 2 at Edgbaston on 77/3, still 510 runs behind India.
Akash Deep didn’t have to wait for too long but he did stick to his strengths. In his first over, as has been his reputation, he bowled full. But England opener Zak Crawley hit two stunning fours down the ground.
For the second over, Akash Deep stuck to the same line and got Ben Duckett edging the ball to slips where Shubman Gill took a diving catch. On the very next ball, he would strike again. Same line and new batsman Ollie Pope paid for attempting an ambitious stroke. He tried to flick a ball on the off-stump to the legside and edged to the cordon.
From the other end, Mohammed Siraj too would strike, Crawley pushing at a ball and edging it behind the stumps.
The bowling effort after the Shubman show has put India in a strong position. After the day’s play, England’s spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel would say that they would not go for a draw and would find a way to win the game.
When Ravindra Jadeja was asked to react to this, he said, “One can say these things in a press conference, but doing it on the field would be different.”
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Jadeja would give a hint about the visitors’ plan. India, he said, would set in-out fields and attack the England batsmen.
“There is always scoreboard pressure and that would help us,” he said.
