At Edgbaston, after the historic win that levelled the series 1-1, there were loud drumbeats of celebration around India’s pace department. Akash Deep’s 10 wickets in the Test meant India had found that ideal third pacer overseas they had been searching for years. Mohammed Siraj had matured, he was showing signs of being the leader of the pace pack when Jasprit Bumrah was rested. All was well, the pace project was doing fine.
How things change, just in a matter of one game. In a week’s time, July 23 to 27, India play at Manchester and speculations have started about which three pacers would take the field. Bumrah will surely play. England lead the five-Test series 2-1, making the fourth Test a do-or-die game. This is crunch time — lose Manchester, lose the series.
Siraj presents a complex dilemma. Having bowled 109 overs, he has been the busiest in the series. If anybody can make a case for resting, it is him. India can’t afford to injure him. An all-format player, the ultimate game-changer, Siraj, like Bumrah, too needs to be preserved.
What about Akash Deep? That’s the intrigue. After the high of Edgbaston, Akash, at Lord’s, seemed to have gone off the boil. At Edgbaston, in the second Test, he had the pace and the rhythm. But at Lord’s, despite the short turnaround, he wasn’t hitting the straps or the right spots.
Was he bothered by the slope? After the first innings, he did tell the broadcaster that he had problems adjusting to the ground with unique dimensions and gradients.
Or was that old injury that bothered him at the start of the series, flaring up again? If that is the case, India wouldn’t risk him playing a Test that will truly decide the series. They can’t afford to have a ‘3 minus 1’ pacer at Manchester. In a way, the team had faced this situation at Lord’s on Day 4.
Feeling discomfort
In the 28th over of the England innings, Akash Deep left for the dressing room after feeling discomfort. With the team physio by his side, the pacer held his waist and grimaced. The 28-year-old has had a history of injuries that sidelined him in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2024 and also in the 2025 IPL season. Before Akash Deep exited, English commentator Michael Atherton had observed that the pacer had been moving around gingerly. After being treated in the dressing room, the pacer returned to the field but didn’t bowl that day. At that point, Washington Sundar was among the wickets and bowled an extended spell from one end.
But even in the first innings, Akash Deep hadn’t played the role of the third seamer. He bowled 23 wicket-less overs and with an average of over 4 was the most expensive Indian bowler. In the second inning, he bowled just 8 overs and got the lone wicket of Harry Brook, a dismissal that could be blamed on the English batsman’s dreadful shot selection. Bumrah, in that inning, bowled 16 overs and Siraj 13.
There is a worrying pattern in the workload distribution of the three pacers. Akash Deep was said to be the workhorse of the team. He was the one who would bowl long spells with Bumrah and Siraj bowling the short explosive bursts.
At the first net session that India had after the Test loss at Lord’s on Monday, Akash Deep had a low-key presence. He sat on the ground stretching not far from where his other teammates went through the warm-up drills. These days the team gets divided into two groups and they play what looks like a game that’s a cross between football and volleyball minus the net. It is mostly a bowlers vs batsmen contest where every point is well-contested. Akash Deep, one of the team’s avid footballers, opted to sit out.
Nothing much can be read in a player missing a fun activity. Along with Akash, even leggie Kuldeep Yadav did his stretches and joined the team only when the actual net practice started. Akash Deep didn’t bowl at the nets and nor did Siraj or Bumrah.
At the fag end of the session, after most players had left, Akash Deep was doing slow jogs with the physio.
Possible replacements
But in case Akash Deep misses Manchester, who would he be replaced by? India has many options in the squad, but no one is an obvious shoo-in. And that is a cause of worry. Prasidh Krishna has had a hot and cold series and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, who suffered a cut on his bowling hand on Thursday, hasn’t been entrusted with a spot yet in Tests. Yet. Arshdeep could add variety to the attack but what if the debutant fails to deliver? Trailing 1-2, that is a tough punt to take for India.
Among the pacers getting a rigorous workout was all-rounder Shardul Thakur. He played the opening Test of the series at Headingley but didn’t quite set the stadium on fire. The main grudge of the Shardul-backers was that the all-rounder got into the attack late and by that time the ball had got older. It’s a fair argument since Shardul at his pace, with the old ball, on a pitch with no life was not going to be particularly effective. For the second Test, Shardul would get replaced by the other all-rounder, the same as him Nitish Reddy.
Maybe, learning from that mistake, Reddy got to bowl with the new ball and he was among the wickets. Would India consider playing both Shardul and Reddy? That can’t be ruled out considering the team management’s obsession with having a long battling line-up.
After the high of Edgbaston, Akash Deep, at Lord’s, seemed to have gone off the boil. (AP) 
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