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Akash Deep should have gotten the Player of the Match instead of Shubman Gill: Ravichandran Ashwin
Shubman Gill's remarkable 430 runs secured him Player of the Match at Edgbaston. Despite this, Ashwin argued that Akash Deep's 10 wickets warranted the honour.
Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin can be trusted to come up with a cricket-related opinion that very few would even dare to imagine, let alone utter it on public platforms. And this is said in all positivity. One of the sharpest minds to have ever played the sport, Ashwin, whose views are almost as popular as his craft with the ball, dropped another banger before the India vs England third Test at Lord's.
Ashwin said the Player of the Match award for the second Test at Edgbaston should have been given to India pacer Akash Deep instead of captain Shubman Gill. Ashwin himself knew that it was a big statement. Journalist Vimal Kumar, who hosts the show on the former cricketer's YouTube channel, was taken aback when Ashwin did not even flinch before announcing that Akash Deep should've been given the Player of the Match award.
"This will be a big statement but I think Akash Deep should have gotten the Player of the Match award on a surface like that," Ashwin said.
The one who got the Player of the Match in India's huge 336-run victory was captain Shubman Gill. The reason? For scoring 430 runs in the match -- the most by any Indian and the second-most overall. Gill hit 269 in the first innings and then backed that up with 161 in the second innings. It was a monumental effort, and there should be no doubt about Gill's contribution to India's victory. Then why did Ashwin make that remark?
The last few words of Ashwin's statement bear special significance here. He was talking about the Edgbaston surface, which offered little to no assistance to the bowlers. The towering scores are the biggest example of that. On that surface, where the England pacers struggled to get any purchase, Akash Deep made the batters hop. Akash Deep shone bright with a 10-wicket haul.
He picked up 4/88 in the first innings and then followed it up with a splendid 6/99 in the second innings to return with impressive match figures of 10/187 -- this was the best figures by an Indian in England.
He returned with a career-best 6/99 in the second innings as India bundled England out for 271 to claim a thumping 336-run win and level the five-Test series 1-1 going into Lord's.
After the match, Akash Deep, who replaced Jasprit Bumrah in India's XI in the previous Test, revealed that his sister was suffering from cancer and he would like to dedicate his performance to her.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri said, "India might have unearthed their best fast bowler in English conditions. Akash Deep is going to really trouble England."
