Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fast bowler Akash Deep has declared himself "100% fit and ready to play" after recovering from a back injury that kept him away from competitive cricket for the last three months.
Akash Deep, who played two Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy late last year, was injured ahead of the fifth Test in Sydney. He joined the LSG squad only on April 2, two days ahead of their fixture against Mumbai Indians in Lucknow.
"I feel the first match is very important for me," he told reporters on the eve of the match. "I have played one practice match, but in cricket when you get a two to three-month gap, no matter how much you practice, till you don't play a match, the confidence does not build."
Akash Deep last played a T20 game for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024. That's his only T20 match in nearly a year and a half, having played in the Syed Mushtaq Trophy before that in October-November 2023. Having been part of RCB since IPL 2022, he was released by the franchise ahead of the 2025 auction where he was picked up by LSG for INR 8 crore.
"The jersey changes but the player remains the same and I am really enjoying my time with this franchise," he said. "I have not been with the team for long because of injury, but I feel quite confident.
"As an individual, you should believe in your process and focus on that process. The easier you keep your game, the easier it gets to perform. For this type of tournament, staying confident becomes very important for a player."
LSG have had a patchy start to IPL 2025 so far under new captain Rishabh Pant. They lost their opening game to Delhi Capitals by one wicket before beating Sunrisers Hyderabad comfortably. Two days ago, they lost at home to Punjab Kings by eight wickets and currently are in the bottom half of the points table.
LSG have been plagued by injuries to their fast bowlers. Mohsin Khan was ruled out of IPL 2025 before the start of the tournament. Mayank Yadav's recovery from a lumbar stress injury was delayed by a toe injury. Despite the problems, the LSG pace attack led by Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan and rookie Prince Yadav have given a good account of themselves.
"In cricket, the performance is not often in our control as a team," Akash Deep said. "We have only played three matches and the IPL is a long tournament and in these three matches, we have seen a lot of positives. Despite four fast bowlers being injured, the way we performed in the first match, I thought it was great. The tournament is long and the best is yet to come."
He was also excited about playing under former India international Zaheer Khan, who is the LSG mentor. "I feel lucky that I am playing under such a big coach, that too for two months," he said. "He is such an experienced bowler that he will be able to figure out what improvements I need. As a fast bowler, you can't change too many things but the smaller technical nuances can be done. He can help me with those."