With his maiden Test 50, the Akash Deep has become the 12th player from an away side with a ten-fer and a fifty in a series in England.
India pacer Akash Deep, who walked in as a night watchman in the third session on Day 2 of the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval, stole the spotlight on Day 3, producing and entertaining knock to register his maiden Test half-century.
Akash, who resumed on 4, made the most of a reprieve and slammed a 94-ball 66 which contained twelve hits to the fence.
With his maiden Test 50, the 28-year-old Akash has become the 12th player from an away side with a ten-fer and a fifty during a series in England.
Among those who have achieved this feat include Hugh Trumble, Shane Warne, Imran Khan, Keith Miller and Richard Hadlee.
Akash, with a first-class average of 11.48 before the Oval Test, is just the fourth Indian to score a Test fifty at No. 4 in England in this century, joining Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill.
He had picked up a match haul of 10 during India's historic win in the second Test at Edgbaston. During the match, Akash set a massive record, delivering the best spell by an Indian in England (10-187), surpassing the long-standing record held by Chetan Sharma (10-188).
On Day 3 of the fifth Test, he, in the company of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, stitched a brilliant 107-run stand for the third wicket and erased England's slim first-innings lead.
This was the 18th century partnership in the ongoing series, the most in a Test series in this century (since 2000), surpassing 17 in the 2003-04 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Akash is also the first Indian nightwatchman to score 50-plus runs since Amit Mishra (84 runs) against the same opponent at the same venue back in 2011.
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