Who is Akash Deep, 27-year-old fast bowler picked in India's squad for last 3 Tests against England?

India named their squad for the last three Tests against England on Saturday and included Bengal pacer Akash Deep in their squad to face Ben Stokes' men.

The 27-year-old featured for India 'A' in the unofficial Tests against England Lions recently and took 13 wickets in those matches, impressing the men who matter sufficiently to get picked in the main squad.

Here's everything you need to know about Akash Deep:

• Born on December 15, 1996 in Dehri town, situated in Rotas district of Bihar, Akash Deep wanted to play cricket from a young age but did not get the encouragement he needed from his father. In 2010, he left his hometown to move to Bengal where his uncle supported his ambitions of becoming a cricketer.


• Akash Deep enrolled himself into a local academy, but tragedy struck later after his father and his elder brother died in the space of a few months.

"My father had a stroke and then he passed away after a brief struggle with paralysis three years ago. Two months after his death, my older brother passed away. He had common cold, fever. It hadn't come down for a few days, and we went to a doctor, who didn't diagnose his problem properly."

"We had to go to Banaras (Varanasi) for treatment, and he died on the way. I was emotionally and mentally down. There was no money in the house, I had my mother to take care of," he told ESPN Cricinfo in an interview in 2020.

• Despite suffering the personal losses, Akash Deep decided to pursue his cricketing dreams and returned to Bengal. After impressing the coaches at the U-23 level, he was drafted into the Ranji Trophy squad and made his debut against Andhra at Eden Gardens in December  2019. In the same year, he also played his maiden List A match (against Gujarat in Jaipur in September) and made his T20 debut against Maharashtra in Indore in March.


• Akash Deep was part of the Bengal team that reached the finals of the Ranji Trophy in 2020 and 2023, losing to Saurashtra on both occasions.


• In 29 First-class matches, Akash Deep has taken 103 wickets with best figures of 6 for 60. He played for India 'A' in the three-match unofficial Test series against England Lions recently and took 13 wickets in those matches.


• Akash Deep was picked up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2022 IPL auction for Rs 20 lakh and took seven wickets in six matches in that season of the tournament.

Despite the meagre returns, Akash Deep impressed captain Faf du Plessis, who said after a match that he bowled "hard lengths". "DK (Karthik) was really good but I was impressed the most with Akash Deep. He was excellent with the new ball, bowled very good hard lengths," du Plessis had said.

• Last year, he was picked as a replacement in India's squad that was selected for the Asian Games and won the gold medal.

Akash Deep's selection in the Test squad means he will reunite with his bowling partner from Bengal-Mukesh Kumar-in the Indian setup.