Who is Akash Deep – Washington Sundar’s replacement at RCB

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday (August 30) announced Bengal paceman Akash Deep as the replacement for injured spin all-rounder Washington Sundar heading into the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, starting September 19.

Sundar has been ruled out of the remaining portion of the tournament that was brought to a halt in early May but is set to resume and be completed in a new September-October window.

The RCB confirmed that Sundar hasn’t fully recovered from the finger injury which he picked up playing against a County Select XI in July to be later sidelined from India’s five-match Test series in the UK against England.

Also Read – IPL 2021: Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Tim David Join RCB For UAE Leg

The absence of the Tamil Nadu off-spinner and capable lower middle-order batsman is a huge blow to the Virat Kohli led RCB where he has been an integral member of the first-choice XI.

But who is Akash Deep?

Bengal pacer Akash Deep has entered RCB’s squad for rest of IPL 2021 in UAE. (pic courtesy: Indian Express)

In what will surely be the biggest moment of his cricketing career so far, Bengal’s Akash Deep has got the nod into RCB’s squad for the rest of IPL 2021.

The right-arm paceman, interestingly, has been around the RCB set-up as a net bowler for a while now and has now received entry into their main playing party as well.

Still very early into his domestic career, the 24-year-old fast bowler boasts of an impressive T20 record next to his name, with 21 wickets from 15 games at an average of 16.85 and an economy rate of just 6.67.

In the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 earlier this year, Akash Deep took 7 wickets from his five matches while going for a respectable 7.50 runs per over.

The IPL being a great platform for young talent to learn, evolve and fasten their growth into a more rounded product, Akash Deep will have the chance to feed off more experienced Indian and overseas pacers such as Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Dushmantha Chameera, Kane Richardson, George Garton.

The young gun will hope that he gets a few opportunities to showcase his class.

RCB are placed third in the points table with five wins and two losses heading into the UAE leg of IPL 2021. The immensely popular franchise will resume their campaign with a fixture on September 20 in Abu Dhabi against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).