New Delhi: Budding India pacer Akash Deep received a special gift from batting ace Virat Kohli on Monday. Both are currently in Chennai and have been sweating it out in the nets in order to prepare for the upcoming first Test against Bangladesh. Kohli is known for recognising young cricketing talents and always credits them with a warm gesture, mostly gifting them something out of his huge cricket kit.
Kohli landed in Chennai a few days back and joined the rest of the team, most of whom came from the ongoing Duleep Trophy. Akash featured in the tournament as well and was announced as one of the core pacers for India to take on Bangladesh in the first Test. The 27-year-old has already made his debut earlier this year against England when India took on the visitors in Ranchi for the fourth Test of the five-match series.
The right-arm fast bowler received a bat from Kohli seemingly during one of their practice sessions when Akash bowled to the star batter. He took to his Instagram account and shared an image of the iconic MRF bat he got from Kohli that already comes with his autograph and a “VK 18” tag. Akash thanked the right-handed batter for the gift, adressing him as “bhaiya” (elder brother).
Here’s the Instagram story of Akash Deep –
Virat Kohli gifted his bat to Akash Deep.
– Lovely gesture by the King. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/onKuPWrdyl
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 16, 2024
Why Kohli gifts bats?
Kohli’s huge kit bag is filled with many such MRF bats that he practices with and carries with him on the field during the action. There have been numerous accounts of Kohli gifting the young Indian stars his bats as a warm gesture to acknowledge the hard work they have been putting into their careers. Rinku Singh is one such example who keeps on demanding bats from Kohli after wearing down the previous ones.
Nonetheless, it remains to be seen if Akash will be picked in the playing eleven for the Bangladesh Test as the team needs someone to fill in the shoes of an injured Mohammed Shami. The likes of Akash, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah have been sending down the throws to the Indian batters in the ongoing net practice at the Chepauk Stadium.
India squad for first Test:
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.
Virat Kohli and Akash Deep are among the players that were named in India squad for the first Test against Bangladesh and have been sweating it out in the nets at Chepauk. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
