Ranji Trophy: Akash Deep’s wobble seam carving certainty in the corridor of uncertainty

There was a quiet assurance to Akash Deep when Bengal came out to bowl against Haryana on Friday during its Ranji Trophy match at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Stadium in Rohtak.

A day earlier, he was the first to walk out and mark his run-up from the Pavilion End, once the early morning fog had cleared. This end was supposed to be helpful for pacers. All three wickets that had gone to Haryana quicks in the first innings came from here.

Yet, as Bengal set out to fortify its total of 193, Akash was happy to cede the Pavilion End to his senior partner, Mukesh Kumar—he trusts Mukesh to deliver, just as he does Mohammed Shami, who was not on the teamsheet this time.

“All three of us have played a lot of First Class matches. We have enough experience to read the conditions, the batters, and the situation of the match. When all three of us are together, there is less pressure. All three of us are capable,” Akash told  Sportstar.

While his faith in his seniors was amply clear, Akash let his craft underline the trust he put in himself. Operating from the far side, an end from which spinners had bowled for three sessions, Akash sent Haryana’s reply into a tailspin with his early breakthroughs.

Akash was sure of bending conditions in his favour. Just as unsure were the batters of what was coming at them.

Wobbly, Wicked

In his still fledgling international career, Akash has been a liberal user of the wobble-seamed delivery. Blending it with his high-arm action and skiddy bounce, Akash sows doubt in the batters’ minds. The wobble seam can take the ball either way, and the skiddy bounce eats into the reaction time of batters. 

England got a bitter taste of it in Birmingham last year, when Ben Duckett, Joe Root, and Harry Brook were among the half-dozen batters who were left befuddled by the subtle but lethal change of trajectory in Akash’s deliveries. This was the spell that got Akash his maiden 10-fer in Tests.

“It is natural for me from the beginning [the ability to hit the seam]. Sometimes the ball goes inside by itself [at times it does not]. But it is very important to keep that line and control. I believe that if the ball goes inside from there, it should hit the stump. I just try to keep it at that line. That has to be the focus. Because that wobble seam, you can’t get every ball. It happens by itself, so the line has to be correct when it comes out right,” Akash said.

In his 10 Tests, Akash has single-mindedly targeted the off-stump/outside-off channel. Since his debut in February 2024, nearly 75 per cent of his deliveries have been outside off, more than Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

He is more consistent than his contemporaries at the off-stump line too, where he averages 19, compared to Bumrah’s 47 and Siraj’s 54.

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This is the corridor where Akash traps his victims. The angle lures the batter into a false perception of the line before the seam—after pitching—reveals the trick, betraying judgement, darting either in or out, and bringing caught, bowled, and leg-before dismissals into the fray.

The minor adjustment with his wrist helps him dictate the direction.

“It depends on the individual. In my experience, when I bowl, I keep the wrist position tight when I want the ball to hit the seam and go inside. Most of the time it works,” Akash said.

A Leviathan fall in Lahli

This was exactly what transpired for Haryana in Rohtak on Friday. Batters, one after the other, were lulled into a false sense of assurance by the angle, only to be rudely awakened to Akash’s sleight of hand.

After his two wickets from the unhelpful far end, Akash was rewarded with an unbroken 11-over spell from the Pavilion End, which got him three scalps out of his ninth First-Class fifer.

Just how Akash is aware of what skill he holds, he knows what is expected of him too. Savouring Friday’s feat is natural, but dwelling on it is not.

Being a workhorse is hardwired when one emerges from humble roots like Akash has. Climbing through club and domestic cricket has made evolving his second nature, and his time with India has reinforced that belief.

Just two years into international cricket, Akash has been asked to hit a steep crescendo. 

In Birmingham, he shouldered the pace unit in Bumrah’s absence in just his seventh Test. It is rare for a fast bowler to be thrust towards responsibility like this, especially in India; it is rarer for one to embrace it with Akash’s grace.

“ Koi bhi kabhi bhi paripurn nahi ho sakta (Nobody can ever be perfect). You have to improve every day. Because at some point, the opponent also plans according to you, whether as a batter or a team. Just because you performed well in the first year does not imply that you will perform well in the next year also. You have to be ready for every situation and challenge.

“Another lesson from that England series was how mentally strong you need to be. Test cricket is a game of patience. How long can you be patient and put the ball in the areas according to the plan? Playing in such a country, you get to learn how to fight as a fast bowler,” Akash said.

Yet, for all his laurels on foreign shores, a shot during the home series against South Africa eluded him. Add to that the stopgap stints in the Indian Premier League that have never really translated into sustained tenures despite bringing along hefty deals.

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Akash admits that some moulding remains to be done, that he’s still not arrived at his most polished form. In fact, he threw another suggestion in the ring, for himself to improve.

“Sustaining at the top is not easy. You do not have every skill; you work to try and achieve it. By just doing that consistently enough, we will get success at some point. So, I never hold in my mind that I have to play a particular format or achieve anything in particular.

“There are some things that I have to work on. Because I play cricket for almost the whole year, I don’t get that much time to improve my technical skills. So, I have to find a way to add to my routine. Besides that, I have to work on my body. I have to work on fitness as well,” Akash said.

If the quiet assurance in himself is one end of the spectrum, embracing these shortcomings is the opposite end. Akash has room for both.

Published on Jan 31, 2026