Gambhir’s Motivation Behind Akash Deep’s Success
Indian pacer Akash Deep has showered praise on head coach Gautam Gambhir, crediting him for playing a key role in his standout performances during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 against England. The 28-year-old quick, who featured in three of the five Tests, was instrumental in India’s 2-2 series draw, ensuring they retained the prestigious trophy.
Akash, who debuted under Rahul Dravid in February 2024, has since become a vital part of India’s pace attack during Gambhir’s tenure. He travelled to Australia last year and served as the third pacer in England. After missing the opening Test at Leeds, he produced a sensational 10-wicket haul in Birmingham, turning the momentum in India’s favour.
His batting also came to the fore in the series-deciding fifth Test at The Oval, where, as a nightwatchman, he scored a crucial 66 runs and stitched a 131-run partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal, pushing India to a total of 396.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑰 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕. 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔,” 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒉𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑨𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒉, 𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚. “𝑯𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈.”
Praising Shubman Gill’s Leadership
Apart from lauding Gambhir, Akash also spoke highly of Shubman Gill, who led India in the longest format for the first time. Despite initial doubts about his appointment over senior players like Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul, Gill silenced critics with a record-breaking 754 runs, including four centuries in the series.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕-𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎, 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔’ 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝑨𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Akash revealed that he had already played under Gill’s leadership in the Duleep Trophy, which made the transition smooth. He described Gill as a “cool customer with plenty of ideas,” adding that such composure is invaluable for making smart on-field decisions.
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