Indian skipper Shubman Gill on Tuesday confirmed that pacer Akash Deep has been ruled out of the fourth Test against England in Manchester due to injury.
The injury to Akash Deep adds to India’s woes and depletes the fast bowling resources ahead of the crucial 4th Test against England. Akash Deep now joins Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the injury list.
“It’s never easy when there are a few injuries in the squad. Nitish Kumar Reddy is going to miss out on the series. Akash Deep is also unavailable for the next match, so is Arshdeep, but we have enough good players in the team to firstly, pick 20 wickets, that’s been the most challenging part of the series. It is not ideal to have different bowlers, but I was prepared,” Gill said in the pre-match press conference of the Manchester Test.
Earlier this week, the Indian team added uncapped fast bowler Anshul Kamboj to the squad as an injury replacement for Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a knee injury.
India skipper praised newcomer Kamboj, who has done well in domestic cricket as well as IPL in recent times.
“We have seen him (Anshul) enough. The kind of skillset he brings to the table is exactly what we want. We believe he can win us the match,” said Gill.
“Even in the second Test match, lots of people had questions as to why Akash Deep was brought in. But it is mainly the belief we have in our squad, that any player is able to and can win matches for us,” he added.
The 25-year-old Gill further mentioned that the third pacer’s spot will essentially be a toss up between Kamboj and Prasidh Krishna, who featured in the first two games of the series.
“I was prepared before the series that we could have a different (bowling) combination before every match. Yes, Anshul is very close to making his debut. But we’ll see tomorrow between him and Prasidh who is going to make it to the XI,” the Indian captain said.
Notably, Prasidh played the first two Tests of the series and picked six wickets before getting dropped from the third Test at Lord’s. On the other hand, Kamboj has earned his maiden Test call-up.
With the series 2-1 in favour of the hosts, England and India will square off in the fourth Test in Manchester, starting on Wednesday, July 23.