Picture Credit: X
Indian fast bowler Akash Deep opened up on his banter with an English batter Ben Duckett during the fifth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 at the Oval, London. The 28-year-old pacer turned out to be the star with the bat during the fifth Test against England at the Kennington Oval in London. Coming as a night-watchman during the final moments of day three in the second innings, Akash went on to score 66 runs off 94 balls, hitting 12 boundaries.
Before his famous knock, Akash Deep also got involved in a banter with Ben Duckett during England’s first innings. After India were bowled out for 224 runs in the first innings, Duckett replied with a quickfire 43(28) runs - taking England to 92 runs in just 12.5 overs. The English opener also hammered four fours and a maximum against Akash Deep’s bowling. However, Akash had a final laugh after he dismissed Duckett while he was attempting to play a reverse scoop. After that, the Indian pacer also came up with an aggressive celebration and also exchanged a few words with Duckett while putting his arm over the English batter’s shoulders.
On a cricket field, you need to keep a cool head: Akash Deep
Now, a few days after the end of the fifth Test against England, Akash Deep opened up on his sledging with Ben Duckett at the Oval. "On a cricket field, you need to keep a cool head. I told Duckett, 'You won't be the only one hitting; I'll hit too. Sometimes you miss, and I hit'," Akash said in his interview with Times of India.
Overall, Akash Deep had a great outing in the recently-ended Test series against England. The right-arm pacer ended up taking 13 scalps in three matches including a match-winning performance in the second Test in Birmingham, where he took four wickets in the first innings and six wickets in the second innings.
“It was quite a good experience. Every pace bowler wants to play in England. Although the wickets were not as we had expected, we still put our heart and soul into every match to end the hard-fought series on even terms. The series was a great learning for me,” Akash Deep said. "Taking ten wickets individually in a match is quite significant but scoring a half century for the team was more important to me. While I was working on my half-century, the only thing on my mind was not to get out and to keep playing,” he further added.
