Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly believes Akash Deep is the one to watch out for as he can be as quick as Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Siraj. Deep made his Test debut against England at Ranchi earlier in the year and picked up three top-order wickets in the first innings.

The right-arm pacer from Bengal has continued his rich form and returned with nine wickets in the Duleep trophy clash for India A while playing against India B. Deep also picked up a five-wicket haul in the second essay.

Sourav Ganguly said at an event in Kolkata as quoted by PTI, “Akash Deep is an outstanding young fast bowler. He runs in, bowls quick, and will bowl for long periods. He is fit, I’ve seen him play for Bengal over a long period of time, taking wickets. He will be as quick as Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami, hitting high 140s. He is one to watch out for.”

Ganguly reckons India’s pace attack of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Yash Dayal for the first Test against Bangladesh is good despite the absence of veteran pacer Mohammed Shami.

“I know Mohammed Shami is missing because of injury, but he will be back very soon since India is going to Australia. It’s still a very good attack,” the 52-year-old former India batter commented.

Meanwhile, Akash Deep has scalped 116 wickets in 32 first-class matches at an average of 22.86, including five five-wicket hauls.

India will take on Bangladesh in the opening Test at Chennai on September 19.

India squad for first Test: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.