“Akash Deep is out with a back issue,” India coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed during the pre-match press conference.

The 28-year-old right-arm pacer bowled a total of 87.5 overs in the series so far, and the injury could be attributed to the heavier-than-usual workload he has endured. 

Akash is likely to be replaced by either Harshit Rana or Prasidh Krishna for India’s final Test of the Australia tour. While Harshit did feature in the first 2 Tests of the series that were held in Perth and Adelaide respectively, Krishna is yet to feature for the Men in Blue in the tour.

The Indian team heads into the final Test, trailing the series by 2-1. Only a win in Sydney will keep their hopes of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final alive.

In such a dire situation, the team will be counting on senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to step up and help the team in levelling the series.

The post Akash Deep ruled out of Sydney Test due to back issue, to be replaced by… appeared first on Cricket Country.

This was Smith’s 11th Test century against India, making him the player with the most tons against the Men in Blue in the red-ball format. He was assisted well by skipper Pat Cummins, who played a valiant knock of 49.

In reply, India lost captain Rohit Sharma for just 3 runs before the duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul steadied the innings. However, Cummins soon ended up getting the latter’s wicket for 24.

Jaiswal then formed a great 102-run partnership with Virat Kohli, and it looked as if India would end the day on a positive note. However, a terrible mix-up ended up costing Jaiswal his wicket through a run-out on 82.

Just an over later, Kohli would also head back into the dugout after getting dismissed by pacer Scott Boland for 36. This wouldn’t be all as Akash Deep would then also lose his wicket 2 overs later as India would end the day on 164/5, trailing by a massive 310-run margin.

It was 153/2 at one stage and in 4 overs, another 3 wickets fell with Gautam Gambhir’s plan of sending a night-watchman in Akash Deep turning out to be one of the many poor calls that the head coach has taken in this game.

In a space of barely five minutes, cricket showed its fickle nature as Jaiswal pushed towards mid-on and called for a quick single with an assured Kohli (36) at the other end. Kohli took a step and half before retreating.

This moment will be one for posterity as Kohli looked down and perhaps felt that he could have at least said a loud “No” to allow Jaiswal to sprint back. It is safe to say that the run out broke Kohli’s concentration and for the first time in 85 balls, he ended up poking a delivery bowled in the corridor of uncertainty and that was the end.

The post Steve Smith scores sensational ton, India suffers batting collapse during final session of Day 2 appeared first on Cricket Country.

Though there are still 2 matches to go in the Border-Gavaskar series, it has already been full of on-field and off-field incidents. Following Jadeja’s controversial interview, seamer Akash Deep refused to entertain the Australian journalists. Star India batter Virat Kohli was also involved in a verbal spat with the media on Melbourne airport.

Clarke reminded that MS Dhoni also didn’t address the media during an entire tour when he was leading the Indian team. He also mentioned that Sachin Tendulkar was also very restrictive around the Australian media.

“I don’t think much has changed, to be honest. I’ve experienced Indian teams coming here, and their captain, MS Dhoni, didn’t do one press conference during the entire Test series. So, Sachin was very restrictive around when he chose to do media. I think it’s been the same for a long time. So, I like the fact they’re still putting someone up,” Clarke told ESPN.

The former Australia skipper said that the fiery tone was first set by India head coach Gautam Gambhir with his press conference before the beginning of the series.

“I think they made it pretty clear before they left India what they were going to be like when they arrived in Australia. They’re going to stick to themselves, stick to their plan. Gambhir made that very clear in the first press conference. So, I don’t know why anybody’s surprised, and for them, it’d be about what’s happening on the field, not off the field. So, I don’t think even the chat around it would be bothering India too much,” Clarke said.

The post ‘Don’t think much has changed’: Ex-Australia skipper takes a dig on Indian team amid Ravindra Jadeja controversy appeared first on Cricket Country.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and bowlers have been blamed for letting Travis Head settle on the ground and not attacking him with enough attack power. Before the Boxing Day Test, Akash Deep revealed that the team has a plan to prevent Travis from getting comfortable on the pitch. However he does not want to reveal that starategy to the media.

“Jo plan hai wo nahi bata sakte, wo bhi tayyar ho jayenge (We can’t reveal our plans, as they’ll prepare accordingly),” Akash told the reporters after training at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

“As fast bowlers, we will stick to the same deliveries and maintain discipline in our bowling. We will bowl from both over and around the wicket, assess the pitch and conditions, and plan accordingly,” he added.

Akash has taken three wickets in the Gabba Test. He gave out better result on Day 5, and took a couple of wickets. In the batting department, he scored 31 runs and shared an important partnership wit Jasprit Bumrah.

The post ‘Plan nahi bata sakte…’: Akash Deep shares his confidence on Indian pacers not letting Travis Head settle on the Pitch appeared first on Cricket Country.

After the practice session, Akash was asked about the level of his injury. He clarified that Rohit is sure to play in the Boxing-Day Test since his injury is not something to be afraid of, and the Indian captain will just undergo a routine before practicing in the nets as usual.

“Injuries like these keep happening when you play. I don’t think it will matter much and he’s okay. He will be seen playing in the Melbourne Test match. There is nothing to worry about,” Deep told the reporters.

Deep was not a part of the playing XI for the first two Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. For the Gabba Test, he came in place of Harshit Rana. His only wicket in the first innings was of Alex Carey who was looking to score fast wickets.

The post ‘Nothing to worry…’:Akash Deep gives MASSIVE update on Availability of Rohit Sharma for Boxing Day Test after Knee injury during Practise session appeared first on Cricket Country.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir celebrated by expressing how excited he was and high-fived Virat Kohli. Other players including captain Rohit Sharma were also happy. However before the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Akash revealed that he did not walk with the intention of saving the team from the follow-on.

“We come to bat lower down the order, so contributions of 20-25-30 runs are very valuable. My mindset is just to contribute. I wasn’t looking to save the follow-on that day; I was just looking not to get out. My mindset was this, God willing, we were able to save the follow-on,” the 28-year-old told the reporters at the MCG

“When you save the match from such a situation, the entire team gets the confidence and our dressing room reflected just that. Everyone was having fun and enjoying,” he added.

Akash scored 31 runs from 44 balls. His score is the second-highest score by any No.11 batter from India when facing Australia. Akash Deep and Bumrah shared a partnership of 47 runs for the last wicket.

The post ‘Not looking to save the follow-on…’: Akash Deep reveals about his Important outing at the Gabba Test appeared first on Cricket Country.

The players not being able to go on the field was not because of the rain. Australian openers Nathan McSweeney and Usman Khawaja looked ready to go out, and Akash Deep was already making his run-up when the warning was shown on the screen at stadium.

“Severe weather is expected any moment. Please seek shelter from exposed areas of the venue and follow the directions of event staff,” said the warning message on the big screen.

As players were waiting for the rain to stop, former international umpire Simon Taufel explained on 7Cricket‘s broadcast that the umpires have a 30/30 rule which they have to follow as part of the protocol.

According to the protocol, if in any case the umpires witness 2 bolts of lighting or hear two different roars of thunderstorm within 30 seconds, they are to force the game to be stopped and head back to dressing rom citing player’s safety.

The post Not Rain! Australia’s second innings got Delayed due to THIS reason as Players got told to seek Shelter early on Day 5 appeared first on Cricket Country.

One such instance was when Akash Deep tried a slog sweep to a delivery by Nathan Lyon, but the ball got stuck and went completely inside his pad of the left leg. Travis Head was coming to grab the ball when Akash took the ball out and threw it on the ground. The Indian cricketer did not notice Travis, who had thought he will be handed the ball as he reached his hand out. This led to a small conversation between the two.

However, the situation did not go any bad route, as Akash was quick to humbly apologise and move on with the game. Later on, Travis Head was the player himself who dismissed Akash Deep and put an end to India’s first innings.

Don't think Travis Head loved that 😂#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/XzR6kIJZu5

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 18, 2024

Coming to the match, the Day 5 began as India resumed their innings from 252/9 and added 8 runs in 24 balls.

The post WATCH: Akash Deep apologises to Travis Head after a small mix-up during Gabba Test appeared first on Cricket Country.

However, fortunately for him, and the entire Indian team, Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep formed a superb partnership of 39 runs which saw the visitors avoid the follow-on. India finished the day on 252/9 with Bumrah batting on 10 and Akash Deep batting on 27.

Thanks to the partnership, India now head into the final day of the Test in a much better situation as the chances of the match ending in a draw look most likely, with 2 more innings to unfold over 3 sessions.

“It’s very good to see when the lower order chips in and scores runs. That’s something we discuss a lot in our meetings and the bowlers work really hard on their batting as well. Really good to see that they can go there and get that little partnership and avoid the follow-on. [It] makes a huge difference knowing that there is a bit of rain around and so much of the match has been lost because of it. We had to find a way to stay in the game and Akash and Bumrah did that. Good way to end the day for us,” Rahul said.

“At that stage (213/9), I was thinking more about going and padding up and trying to go back to bad. I’m not sure if they would have enforced the follow-on, so I was thinking about what I need to do about my batting. But it’s always nice to see bowlers go out there and get some runs, they put in a lot of efforts in the nets and when it mattered today, I’m happy that they could really play some shots and very exciting shots,” Rahul added.

“It was a very exciting contest in the last half an hour… not just the runs that they got but also the heart that they showed to keep away the bouncers, get behind the ball, defend well, play some nice shots. It will give them and the team a lot of confidence,” Rahul further said.

The post ‘Was thinking about padding up’: KL Rahul reveals Indian dugout scenes before avoiding follow-on appeared first on Cricket Country.

However, Australia did have a chance to give India a major blow on the very first ball of the fourth day when Rahul edged Pat Cummins’ delivery straight to Steve Smith, who was fielding in the slips. But, the former Australia skipper ended up dropping a sitter as Rahul got a valuable lifeline on 33.

Smith did go on to redeem himself later on as he took absolute stunner to dismiss Rahul, who was then batting on 84. This time, spinner Nathan Lyon trapped the India batter, who tried to hit a boundary but ended up touching the thick edge on the ball.

Smith, who was placed on the first slip, moved towards his right and took a brilliant one-handed catch and prevented Rahul from completing his century.

The big wicket would see India get restricted to 141/6 and would finish the first session on 167/6. Rahul’s wicket was definitely crucial for Australia as the batter could have gone on to cause even more damage if Smith didn’t pull off the spectacular catch.

The post WATCH: Steve Smith takes STUNNING catch to dismiss KL Rahul in Brisbane Test appeared first on Cricket Country.