Akash Deep counts his blessings

Akash Deep’s early years were engulfed by one ordeal after another. Sometime in 2010, he was in his teens when he had to leave his modest home in Bihar and move to neighbouring West Bengal on the pretext of finding a job. In 2015, he lost his father and elder brother in the space of a few months.

Even in mid-2025, as he was bowling India to victory against England in the second Test at Edgbaston with a match haul of 10 for 187, his elder sister was battling cancer.

So when he found out in March this year that he would be sidelined for nearly seven months with a stress fracture in his lower back, he didn’t panic. Myriad curveballs had been thrown at the 29-year-old, and this was merely another that he had to deal with.

“I take everything positively. If I am injured today, I have the Centre of Excellence, a trainer, a physio and a coach. Even when I am practising, there are four or five members from the support staff.

There are so many things set up for you to succeed. These are blessings,” Akash, donning a training jersey and shorts, said in a chat with The Hindu. “If I was still back in my village, there wouldn’t have been anyone to even tell me I am injured.

I didn’t see this phase as needing mental toughness. There was nothing to be depressed about. I had such a well-drilled system looking after me. You have to just wake up and work hard. There is nothing else to think about. It is a blessing to have such things.

Akash was offering his perspective at a five-star hotel in Srinagar on Tuesday, two days out from the Irani Cup fixture between Rest of India and Jammu & Kashmir at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium. It will be his return to competitive action — his last outing was for Bengal against J&K in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy semifinal in February.

Vis-a-vis the hardships that life can entail beyond the sporting arena, a stress fracture may not be a tragedy. But it is no trivial matter either, for back injuries have derailed the careers of many promising fast bowlers.