Shubman Gill ended the suspense over Akash Deep's participation in the fourth Test between India and England, starting from Wednesday in Manchester. The pacer picked up an injury on his groin while playing at Lord's, which India lost by 22 runs.
The right-arm seamer was instrumental in India squaring the series in Birmingham with a 10-wicket match haul. However, in the Lord's Test, he looked off colour, managing just one wicket and even walking off on Day 4 for treatment, though the exact nature of that issue wasn't confirmed then.
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Addressing media a day before the Test, India captain Shubman Gill confirmed the development. Akash Deep is the third name to join the list of injured, with Arshdeep Singh already ruled out of the match due to "an impact injury to his left thumb while bowling in the nets at a training session in Beckenham."
Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy's series came to an abrupt end after the all-rounder sustained an injury on his left knee while training indoors.
Despite the setback Gill backed the rest of the group to do well as India find themselves trailing 1-2 in the five-match series. "Akash Deep is unavailable, so is Arshdeep but we have good players in the team to pick twenty wickets. It is not ideal to have different bowlers but I was prepared," said the skipper.
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A name that is projected to land his Test, in fact India debut in any format, at Manchester is Anshul Kamboj. The pacer was added to the Test team and an official confirmation was announced on Monday. When quizzed about the same, Gill mentioned: "He is very close to making debut. We will see between Prasidh and Anshul tomorrow (the day of the match)."
Kamboj was part of the India A tour, which engaged in two four-day encounters against England Lions. He scalped five wickets and impressed many with his line and length.
With Gill expecting the wicket to generate "more pace and bounce" this could be a golden opportunity for the tall pacer from Haryana to make an instant impact.
