London, Aug 2 (IANS) Former wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik said Akash Deep’s entertaining knock of 66 during day three’s play in the ongoing fifth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test was a wonderful effort which in turn has taken the visitors’ to a very strong position.

In the morning session, with the pitch flattening out, nightwatchman Akash was dropped on 21, and went on to hit his maiden Test half-century, laced with 12 boundaries, before falling to Jamie Overton for 66. By then, Akash had done way more than asked of his nightwatchman duties while sharing a decisive 107-run partnership with Jaiswal.

“They couldn’t have asked anything more from him. All they wanted him to do was probably just get past last night, which he did quite comfortably. But today, he came out there, played wonderfully well, gave a chance early. When you put down chances, that’s what happens. That’s the last thing you want, as it is, you’re a depleted bowling attack.”

“Then when you put down simple ones, it gets even tougher. He got lucky as well. A couple of the balls that he ended up edging just went in the gap in the slip cordon. But all in all, I think it is a wonderful effort. You pretty much can assess and understand the mindset of a team, depending on how your tailenders are playing.”

“I think Michael Atherton put it nicely, saying that if you have 9-10-11 fighting it out there for you, like what Siraj and Bumrah did at Lord’s, those kind of small moments actually spur you on as a team.”

“Akash Deep’s effort as a batter, and you could see the applause that he got when he went back in, means so much to the team. It’s because what he’s done is actually take India to a very strong position. From here on, you’d expect the batters to bat deep and take India to a very strong and very good place,” said Karthik on Sky Sports’ broadcast during lunch break.

He also thinks the current series is among India’s best tours of England in recent times. “I think it is one of the best series India have had in England, for sure because of how competitive they have been from day one.”

“If you just look at the number of sessions India have won, the fact they are still lagging behind 2-1 shows how hard it is to beat England at home. It is a young team that is going to take over India and it’s Test cricket for the next 10 years.”

Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, felt the hosts’ needed to bowl fuller in the first session. “They were OK in that morning session. Ricky Ponting made the excellent point that they have bowled some good lengths but they need to go fuller now. There is a lot of batting to come and England are one bowler down (with Chris Woakes out) so it is a big session ahead.”

Quizzed on when skipper Ollie Pope should turn to spinners for an extended spell, former England pacer Stuart Broad said, “England’s legs are shaky, they are a bowler down with Woakes injured and the spinners haven’t played a part because the conditions are so seam-friendly, so Pope has a tough decision to make.”

“When doe he turn to Bethell or Root to hold an end up and rotate his seamers from the other end? It’s all India at the minute. England are under pressure, Pope is under pressure, and I’m not entirely sure what he can do.”

–IANS

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