• Source:JND
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IND vs ENG: Akash Deep's crucial 66 off 94 balls as a nightwatchman against England on Day 3 of the 5th Test at The Oval attracted widespread praise from the captain, Shubman Gill, senior batter KL Rahul and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak.

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 his nightwatchman duties while sharing a decisive 107-run partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

In a video released by the BCCI, Gill said that the innings of 66 runs played by Akash was nothing less than a hundred for the team.

"I think these 66 runs of Akash — it’s no less than a century. For a long time, there’s always been this banter going on between us. The batters keep saying, 'You lower-order bowlers, contribute a bit, man.' What to say — I think in this match, they settled all scores with us," said Gill.

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Akash's preparation for Day 3 was stitched by practical understandings from the Indian team's batting coach Sitanshu Kothak and KL Rahul.

"Yesterday when he was in the lift after we reached the hotel, I told him — 'Akash, if you get it in the slot tomorrow, just hit it. Don’t defend compulsorily, because in the last two innings you got out defending,'" said Kothak.

"Yeah, this morning, just had a brief chat and told him to think like a batter and, you know, not throw his wicket away," said KL Rahul.

Akash Deep's mind grit played a key role in his knock, as he disclosed that he embraced a relentless mindset, steadfastly declining to entertain ideas of loss.

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"Last night when I went to sleep, my mindset was that I’m not going to get out. If the ball gets me out, that’s a different thing — but I won’t throw my wicket. Even if the ball hits the body or hits anywhere, I have to play. Where there was a need to play the ball, I did. With Jaiswal, we had a partnership of over 100 runs — so that’s very special for me," said Akash.

"That fifty is special for me, but more special than that is that I played two hours in the morning for the team — that is very special for me," said Akash.