Indian fast bowler Akash Deep and England opener Ben Duckett shared a heartwarming moment during Day 3 of the fifth Test at The Oval in London. A video released by the broadcasters showed the duo walking off the field with their arms around each other, seemingly sharing a light conversation—a day after an on-field exchange that caught fans’ attention.

During England’s first innings, Duckett had gone after Akash Deep with an aggressive approach, including a reverse scoop for six. However, Akash Deep got his revenge when Duckett, attempting a similar shot, edged it to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel and walked back after scoring a brisk 43 off 28 balls. As Duckett departed, Akash wrapped an arm around him, in what appeared to be playful banter.

“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝑨𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,” 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑺𝒌𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔. “𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒋𝒐𝒃’𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕—𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆.”

Akash Deep Impresses With the Bat as India Builds a Strong Lead

Although Akash Deep managed just one wicket in the innings—Duckett’s—he made his presence felt with the bat. Coming in as a nightwatcher on Day 2, the 28-year-old notched up a gritty 66 off 94 balls, putting together a crucial 107-run stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal for the third wicket. His resistance ended just before lunch on Day 3, when he edged a bouncer from Jamie Overton to backward point, where Gus Atkinson completed a spectacular diving catch.

India’s dominance continued as Jaiswal reached his century and Ravindra Jadeja added a solid fifty, stretching the lead beyond 300 runs and putting England on the back foot.

With the five-match series currently standing at 2-1 in England’s favour, India will be eager to level the score in the final Test. England, on the other hand, is eyeing either a win or a draw to lift the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy on home soil.

“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑨𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎,” 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚. “𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒂 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆.”

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