India's star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal heaped praise on Akash Deep following their crucial partnership in the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England at The Oval on Saturday.
Coming in as a nightwatchman late on Day 2, Akash Deep scored a gritty 66 off 94 balls on Day 3 of the Test match, the knock included 12 boundaries. His fearless approach and ability to stick around gave India vital runs at a crucial stage of the match.
With his first fifty in the longest format, he became just the fourth Indian to score a Test fifty at No.4 in England in this century, joining the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Indian skipper Shubman Gill.
The duo added 107 runs for the third wicket on Day 3 in the series decider. This partnership was the 18th 100-run stand in this ongoing England tour, the most in a Test series in this century (since 2000), surpassing 17 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2003-04.
The partnership between Jaiswal-Akash Deep was a turning point in India's second innings as they lost KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan for low scores on Day 2.
"He did what he could, and he was playing shots and defending very well," Jaiswal said at the post-day press conference.
"We were just having a talk in the middle about what we can do best in that situation because we wanted him to play as long as he can play. So, that will benefit us as well. So, I was just keeping thinking about how we can build this partnership as long as we can," Jaiswal added.
England pacer Josh Tongue admitted to feeling the heat after Akash Deep produced a spirited innings.
"Yeah, it's obviously frustrating," Tongue told the media after close of play on Day 3.
"It's happened to me many a times where we just sort of said as a bowling unit, just bowl your best ball for as long as you can and hopefully either nick one or you bowled him," he added.
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