Akash Deep grabbed the headlines after he made his presence count on his Test debut against England in the fourth Test in Ranchi. The Bihar-born cricketer who received a Test cap from India’s head coach Rahul Dravid let his ball do the talking in the morning session.

The debutant made waves with the ball by giving the English batters a run for their money. He ripped through the defense of England’s top-order by taking the first three wickets. Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope fell prey to Akash Deep’s deliveries.

Akash Deep became the fourth player to make his debut for India in the ongoing Test series against England after Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan. The pacer couldn’t be any happier upon leaving a good impression in his first-ever match for India, which was exactly the kind of start that he had dreamt of.

The 27-year-old has indeed come a long way to turn his dream to reality and he went through obstacles, personal tragedies to make it this far. However, it wouldn’t have been possible without his persistence and determination.

He always wanted to play cricket but his father opposed him. However, he set his sights on venturing into cricket. He had to play cricket secretly to hone his skills. Deep left for Durgapur with the pretense of finding a job and fortunately, he got the backing of his uncle.

His journey started when he set his foot in a local academy where he drew plaudits for his pace. During his journey, he lost his father and elder brother within six months and then came financial setbacks, where he had to take care of his mother, which put him out of cricket for 3 years.

However, he decided not to give up as he returned to Durgapur in Bengal where he followed his passion before his hard work bore fruit when he eventually made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bengal cricket team in 2019. Akash Deep made a significant impact by taking 103 wickets in 29 first-class games, which saw him become a member of RCB squad for IPL 2021. He also made it to India's squad for the 2022 Asian Games.