Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has come down hard on the Indian team management for fielding Akash Deep in the fifth Test against England at The Oval despite his injury concerns. The Bengal pacer had sustained a groin injury during the third Test at Lord’s and missed the following match at Old Trafford. Despite the injury, he returned to play the final Test but hasn’t looked fully fit.
Deep has taken one wicket in each innings, returning figures of 1/80 in 17 overs and 1/85 in 20 overs, respectively. Though he impressed with the bat, scoring his maiden international half-century in the second innings, his bowling form raised concerns.
“𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆 (𝑨𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝑫𝒆𝒆𝒑) 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕,”
Sidhu said on his YouTube channel.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕-𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉. 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒎?”
‘You’ll End Up Breaking Siraj Too’
Sidhu argued that playing a half-fit bowler placed an unfair burden on the other pacers, especially Mohammed Siraj, who had to work extra hard due to the limited resources.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒋 𝒕𝒐𝒐. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅. “𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒘.”
The former cricketer Sidhu did not blame Akash Deep directly but pointed fingers at the team management for risking a player who wasn’t match-fit. He highlighted how Deep’s physical discomfort was visible on the field.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕,” 𝑺𝒊𝒅𝒉𝒖 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒅. 𝑯𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏. 𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆.”
Sidhu also referenced Deep’s long-standing injury issues dating back to the 2025 IPL, saying, “He was injured during the IPL, came back, and now he is as fragile as a touch-me-not plant.”
As the final day of the Oval Test approaches, India needs four wickets while England requires just 35 runs to seal the series. Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton will resume their innings, aiming to guide the hosts to a memorable win.
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