Akash Deep reveals sister's cancer battle, dedicates match-winning show to her

Birmingham: “Every time I had the ball in my hand, her thoughts would cross my mind,” said an emotional Akash Deep, dedicating his stellar performance in the second Test to his sister, who has been battling cancer for the past two months.

Having taken 10 wickets in India's series-levelling 336-run victory at the Edgbaston, the 28-year-old Bengal speedster well and truly arrived on big stage with a performance of a lifetime on a track that has primarily been bowler's graveyard.

"I have not spoken about this with anyone but two months back, my sister was diagnosed with cancer. She will be very happy with my performance and this will bring some smiles back.

"Every time I picked up the ball, her thoughts and picture crossed my mind. This performance is dedicated to her. I want to tell her, "Sis, we are all with you," Akash controlled his emotions while talking to Cheteshwar Pujara on Jio Hotstar.

On the match, he was happy that the plans and the processes that he put in place worked out wonderfully.

"My main aim was to hit the seam on hard lengths and let the ball move in. In case of Joe Root, my aim was to bowl from wide off the crease and get it to shape away. In case of Harry Brook, I knew that he is committed on backfoot and wanted to hit the seam hard and on fuller length getting it to move in," he explained.

Right now, he would like to savour his match-winning performance and not think about playing at the iconic Lord's cricket ground where the next Test will be played from July 10-14.

"I haven't thought about my gameplan for Lord's. But it won't be very different from what it has been here. There would be days when it would work and there would be days it wont work. Our job is to stick to our strengths and believe in our processes," he said.