After playing a match-saving knock against Australia at Brisbane in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia, India right-arm seamer opened up on his mindset while batting in the third Test of the series in order to save the follow-on. Akashdeep played a brilliant inning of 31 runs from 44 balls which was laced with two boundaries and one maximum. He along with Jasprit Bumrah built an exceptional partnership of 47 runs and saved the follow-om for his national side.
“The number at which I came out to bat is very low so my mindset is to score 25-30 valuable runs for the side. My mindset while batting is always to contribute for the side and that day also in the Brisbane Test, I came out with the same mindset. During that time, I was not thinking about the follow-on, the maiden idea was to remain on the crease. Everyone in the dressing room were confident after we saved the follow-on and were enjoying that moment,” Akash Deep told the reports ahead of the Melbourne Test.
Further, the 28-year-old heaped praise on Bumrah and told how he has helped him in this tour to perform better as this is his first Australian tour.
“Jasprit Bumrah has helped me a lot and guided me throughout as this is my first Australian tour. We can believe in him as he has bowled really well not only in this series but all-around the world. He tells us very small and simple things to in order to succeed,” Akash Deep added.
The series is evenly poised at 1-1 before the Boxing Day Test, set to be played at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday. Sean Abbott is likely to feature in Australia’s playing eleven after Josh Hazlewood’s injury which forced him out of the BGT squad.
Australia has made a couple of changes to its squad, addressing Hazlewood’s absence and the top-order issues. Sam Konstas replaces Nathan McSweeney in the squad for the fourth Test.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (C), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
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