Akash Deep is surprised by the flat tracks in England during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He said he came to the country imagining help for the fast bowlers with swing and seam, but it wasn’t the case.
The right-arm quick was speaking after the second day’s play at Edgbaston. His experience of bowling in India and making the best use of the new ball, while maintaining consistency with the old one, came in handy as he picked up four wickets to keep England down to 407, 180 runs short of the visitors’ first-innings score.
“I had expected the ball to seam and swing in England, but on these kinds of flat wickets, you can only be disciplined about your plans,” he said after stumps.
England has been offering flat tracks for the past few years under the BazBall era. Brendon McCullum’s coaching is built on aggressive, win-oriented Test cricket, and they try to out-muscle opponents with their batting while hoping that their home bowlers will be better equipped to handle the conditions.
For example, one thing that England did better than India at Headingley in the first Test was using the wobbled seam deliveries. It helped them seal a five-wicket win.
Here, though, Shubman Gill’s double-ton set up a good foundation for India before Akash and Mohammed Siraj (six wickets) combined to keep the hosts behind the eight-ball.
“Siraj and I were talking amongst each other regularly in the middle; the plan was to bowl in partnerships and not give away runs. I was attacking upfront and Siraj was holding the other end (on day two),” Akash added.
The senior quick from Hyderabad, also called Akash a ‘horse’ for his relentless ability to bowl tight spells.
