Follow UsHis career is only 10 Tests old, but Akash Deep continues breaking new ground with every Test he plays. The 28-year-old, earlier in the series, took his first 10-wicket haul in Test cricket at Edgbaston and now he has added a batting feather to his cap, smashing a maiden Test fifty to frustrate England at The Oval.
With the No.3 batter Sai Sudharsan falling minutes before close of play on day two, Akash Deep was sent in at No.4 as a nightwatcher to shield Shubman Gill. He did that in the two balls he faced, collecting four runs in the process as well.
Yet what he did in the morning session today shell-shocked England as the seam bowler frustrated and humiliated the English seamers, hammering a maiden fifty in Test cricket.
By doing so, he became only the second Indian nightwatcher this century (after Amit Mishra) to post a fifty. Also, as head coach Gautam Gambhir watched on, he achieved something Gambhir could never do in England, which is post a half-century.
84 - Amit Mishra vs ENG, The Oval, 2011
51* - Akash Deep vs ENG, The Oval, 2025
50 - Amit Mishra vs BAN, Chattogram, 2010
What’s more, Akash Deep is only the third Indian in history to do the double of a 10-wicket haul and 50+ score in an away Test series. And he’s the first Indian EVER to manage this double in a SENA country.
Irfan Pathan, India tour of Zimbabwe 2005
Ravichandran Ashwin, India tour of Sri Lanka 2015
Ravichandran Ashwin, India tour of West Indies 2023
Akash Deep, India tour of England 2025
This has been a breakthrough series to remember for the Bengal man. And he’s just getting started in the longest format.