I want a smile on her face, Akash Deep dedicates match-winning performance to sister battling cancer

Dubai: India’s crushing 336-run win over England at Edgbaston may have been a turning point in the Test series, but for pacer Akash Deep, it meant something far more personal.

After being drafted into the playing XI in place of Jasprit Bumrah following the defeat in Leeds, the 28-year-old pacer silenced critics with a sensational 10-wicket haul, helping India level the series 1-1. But beneath the glory of his on-field heroics was a quiet, emotional battle of his own.

“This was for her,” Akash said after the match, holding back tears. “My sister is stable now, but the past two months have been very hard for her. Every time I ran in to bowl, I thought of her. Today, I just want a smile on her face.”

Hailing from Sasaram, Bihar, Akash Deep’s rise to international cricket has been anything but easy. He grew up playing tennis-ball cricket to help support his family and moved to Durgapur in 2010 in search of work. There, with his uncle’s support, he and his cousin joined a local cricket academy. His raw pace quickly began to draw attention. But the death of his father Ramji Singh, a government school teacher, turned his world upside down. Just two months later, his older brother also died from an undiagnosed illness.

Emotionally broken

“I was broken—emotionally, mentally,” he recalled in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “There was no money, just me and my mother left. I had to step away from cricket for three years to hold everything together.”

That three-year pause could have ended his dream. But Akash clawed his way back. And now, with a match-defining spell that dismantled England’s top order—including prized wickets like Joe Root and Ben Duckett — he’s not just playing for India but for his family back home.