File photo of Virat Kohli.© BCCI
Indian star batsman Virat Kohli has given a special welcome to the new player Akash Deep in the Indian Test team. Fast bowler Akash Deep, who was selected in the Indian team for the first Test against Bangladesh, revealed on Instagram that Kohli has gifted him a bat before the series. It is worth noting that Akash Deep is not the first player to receive such a gift, recently players like Rinku Singh and Vijaykumar Vaishakh have also revealed that they have also been lucky enough to receive such a gift from Kohli.
Akash Deep posted a picture of Kohli's MRF-sponsored bat on Instagram and wrote, “Thank you bhaiya.”
The fast bowler has also been a part of the team with Virat Kohli in Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) since 2022, during which the team has reached the playoff stage twice.
Akash Deep made his debut in the fourth Test of the five-Test series against England in 2024. He made a tremendous impression on his debut and devastated England's top order in the first innings. He took three wickets, dismissing Jack Crowley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope.
This is the only test match of his career.
After consistently performing well in the domestic circuit, Akash Deep has once again been given a chance in the white ball team by India. Deep has been included in the team due to the absence of Mohammed Shami due to injury.
Kohli, meanwhile, will play with the red ball for the first time since January 2024, when he played against South Africa. This has been Kohli's only Test match of the entire year, as he decided to skip the home series against England due to the birth of his second child.
Kohli's goal is to become the fourth Indian to score 9,000 Test runs. The 35-year-old is just 152 runs away from this achievement. He will join Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in the list of Indians to achieve this feat.
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