Player from Central Delhi Kingdom reports suspicions of match-fixing in DPL; DDCA seeks advice from BCCI

The fast bowler for the Indian national team, Akash Deep, shared his little-known story during the 'Play, Jump, Become a Gentleman' session at the Panchayat AajTak venue in Patna. He recounted that in his village in Bihar during childhood, there was no money to buy equipment for ball games, so he gave up playing ball games and started practicing bowling.

Deep also told about the tragic loss of his father and elder brother over several months, which forced him to leave home. He noted that in his native village, playing cricket was considered something akin to a crime because at that time, none of the players from Bihar could secure a future through sports. His father was a teacher, and since the family belonged to the middle class, all parents wished for their children's futures to be secured through education. Furthermore, there was no cricket field in the village.

At the age of 20-21, his father and elder brother passed away. This period hardened his character and gave him the determination to go to Delhi, where his sister and uncle, who served in the army, lived. There, he first saw the game of cricket with a leather ball, as they only played with a soft ball in the village. Due to the high cost of ball game equipment, he chose bowling because a bowler did not need to buy his own equipment.

After this, he went to Calcutta, trained diligently, and was able to transition from club cricket to professional cricket the following year. In 2023, he was selected for the team. The news of his inclusion in the Test squad reached him via a message from Rahul Dravid, which he initially missed because the number was not saved. His debut took place in Ranchi, where his mother and family were present. He named Sachin Tendulkar his idol and highly praised the policy of the Bihar government regarding sports, noting that the sports budget increased from thirty to six hundred and fifty million. He himself also manages a sports academy.

Significant adjustments have been made to the India-A squad, which will face Australia-A in two four-day matches. The decision was made to exclude fast bowler Vijayakumar Vaishak from the team.

The reason for his exclusion was that 29-year-old Vaishak could not fully recover from a hamstring injury. Initially, he was given a spot in the 15-man squad provided he met the fitness requirements. Since the expected recovery did not materialize, he was dropped from both unofficial test matches against Australia-A.

According to TOI, Vaishak's place was taken by left-arm spinner Tripura Vidhay from Andhra. This 25-year-old left-arm spinner is already under the observation of BCCI's Bode. He was recently invited to the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru to participate in a spin bowling camp.

Tripura Vidhay's recent performance in the final of the Duleep Trophy 2026-27 for the South Zone was very successful: he took five wickets. This recent performance helped him secure a spot in the India-A team. His first-class statistics are also impressive: he took 57 wickets in 17 matches, including four instances of five-wicket hauls in a single game and one instance of a ten-wicket haul in a match.

He will now play as part of the India-A spin department in the four-day encounters against Australia-A. The matches between India-A and Australia-A will take place in Puducherry. The first match will be held from September 22 to 25, and the second from September 29 to October 2. Following this, both teams will play three one-day unofficial matches scheduled for October 6, 9, and 11.

In the multi-day format matches, India-A will be led by Devdhadhat Padikkal, with Sai Sudarshan serving as vice-captain. The team will also include wicketkeepers Kumar Kushagar and Narayan Jagdishan. Among the star fast bowlers in the squad are Anshul Kamboj and Tushar Deshpande.

The India-A squad for the multi-day matches includes: Aman Mokhade, Ayush Pandey, Devdhadhat Padikkal (captain), Sai Sudarshan (vice-captain), Yash Rathore, Sheikh Rashid, Kumar Kushagar (wicketkeeper), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Anshul Kamboj, Prahul Hinge, N. Jagdishan (wicketkeeper), Nachiket Bhute, and Tripura Vidhay.

The Indian team defeated Afghanistan in the first match of the three-match T20 series, winning by seven wickets. After a confident start, the Indian squad aims to win the second game to gain an advantage in the series.

Young 15-year-old batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who impressed with his powerful batting during the visit to Zimbabwe, did not get a chance to play in the first match against Afghanistan. Before the game, there were active discussions among fans regarding Vaibhav Suryavanshi's participation.

Despite India's comfortable seven-wicket victory, the decision not to include Vaibhav in the starting lineup sparked controversy. Former Indian selector and experienced player Krishnamachari Shrikant sharply criticized this decision by the team management.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Shrikant noted that it was completely unclear why the player, who was the best in the previous match of the series, was suddenly excluded. He joked that when Vaibhav Suryavanshi didn't play yesterday, they started watching movies instead of the match on TV. His wife also expressed dissatisfaction, questioning why the star from the previous match was absent from the team today. He added that if such an ordinary viewer asks this question, one should consider what the player himself is going through.

Shrikant believes that constantly including and excluding a young athlete undermines his confidence. He stated that the team is treating Vaibhav incorrectly. Now, when he steps onto the field for the next match, he will have the fear of being excluded again if he does not score runs.

Shrikant emphasized that this young batsman, who has proven his worth in domestic cricket, India-A, IPL, and international T20, should be given consistent opportunities. Furthermore, he expressed regret over the treatment of Sanju Samson. He noted that Samson is sometimes included in the team and sometimes suddenly excluded, which does not contribute to the stability of any player.

It turned out that Vaibhav Suryavanshi participated in the final match of the Theleef Trophy, a red-ball tournament, just two days before the series against Afghanistan. Because of this, he had fewer opportunities to train with white balls (T20). In the first match, Sanju Samson played in place of him in the opening batting alongside Abhishek Sharma. Although Samson was dismissed after scoring 10 runs, the Indian team achieved the target of 157 runs in just 13.4 overs.