'He Looked Far Better Than Mukesh Kumar': Sanjay Manjrekar Lauds Akash Deep's Consistent Bowling Efforts

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has said that when Akash Deep debuted in the Ranchi Test against England, he already looked better than Mukesh Kumar and a very repeatable bowling action makes him hard to read for batters. He added that Akash will undoubtedly be one of the four or five pacers who will travel Down Under later this year for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Akash claimed two of the three wickets to fall on a rain-hit Day 1 of the second Test against Bangladesh at Green Park in Kanpur on Friday. Just 35 overs were possible on Day 1 due to incessant rain but a full first session meant Akash had enough time to dismiss Bangladesh openers Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam."When he made his debut in Ranchi as well, you could see that he looked far better than Mukesh Kumar, who was playing as the third seamer at that time. He is somebody that India will have in their top four or five when they go to Australia," Manjrekar said while speaking on ESPNCricinfo. While Akash picked two wickets in the first session in Kanpur, he bowled a brilliant spell of 5-0-19-2 in the first innings in Chennai and another economic spell of 6-0-20-0 in the second innings. Manjrekar said that Akash bowls straight through the air, which makes him tough for batters to read, especially southpaws. "He keeps it simple. He is straight in the air, which I, as a batter, used to find very difficult. They give you nothing. You saw the two left-handers struggle with the same thing where the ball was straight at them and just a little bit of movement," Manjrekar said. Akash made his Test debut against England in Ranchi earlier this year. The Kanpur Test is just his third and he has already picked seven wickets at an average of 22.28.