Akash Deep vs Harshit Rana: Who Should Play the Pink-Ball Test in Adelaide?

Akash Deep in the Indian jersey. Source (X)

The Indian team management faces a selection dilemma ahead of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Should they stick with Harshit Rana, who shone on debut in Perth, or turn to the skiddy Akash Deep, whose skill set aligns well with the challenges of the pink ball?

The pink ball, with its extra lacquer, skids more off the surface, giving batters less time to adjust. This unique feature could play to Akash Deep’s strengths. Known for his skiddy nature and ability to extract consistent movement off the deck, Deep can exploit conditions with his straight-seam grip. If not swing in the air, he is set to hit the seam and extract nifty movement off the deck. 

Interestingly, Mohammed Shami, the experienced pace bowler, is a master at it. Shami, though, seems to generate more swing with the new and old ball. It almost feels as if Mukesh and Deep were inspired by Shami, their Bengal teammate.

Matthew Hayden, the former Australian opener, also shared his views on the similarities between Deep and Shami during an interaction on Channel 7. “Prasidh Krishna did very well in the unofficial Test match, but for me, Akash Deep is the closest replacement for Shami’s type of role.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Deep was reportedly making the pink ball talk while bowling to Rohit Sharma in a net session, on the sidelines of the fourth day of the Perth Test. Just to add a word of caution, Deep doesn’t have the experience of playing in Australian conditions. And if he gets a chance, he might have to shift his line a little bit, especially in the first innings. In that context, the management could be tempted to select Deep ahead of Harshit Rana for the second game, starting on December 6.

But would it be fair for the think tank to drop Harshit from the playing XI? After all, the tall, hit-the-deck pace bowler ended up with four wickets on his Test debut and played a part in India’s famous win in Perth. In the first innings, in particular, he employed the ‘heavy ball’ to good effect, pushing Australia’s lower-order batters back. He also bowled a peach of a delivery to Travis Head that angled in and then nipped away to rattle the timber from around the wicket.

In an imaginary sense, Harshit would get 10/10 marks in terms of executing the plan to Head. Although Harshit sprayed it around a bit in the second dig, the Indian coaching staff would be pleased that one of their picks, based on gut feel, worked.

Now, the onus is on the backroom staff to decide whether they would make another of those horses-for-courses selections, considering the likely conditions in Adelaide. Who knows? They might also stick to the winning combination. Just a peek into Deep’s skill set suggests the logical opinion could be that he is the right candidate.