Akash Deep is back, cleared and bowling for the rest of India, but he is not alone in the queue for a New Zealand Test place. Bumrah, Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar sit in the reported pace group, with Mukesh Kumar pushing from the outside. This match is his first competitive outing since February, and every wicket he takes in Srinagar will be weighed against that crowded field. Selectors have options, and he has to earn the benefit of the doubt.
Akash Deep Irani Cup 2026 injury return: Fitness Cleared
Akash Deep has received his Return to Play certificate and was bowling at full capacity by September. That closes a long layoff, because his previous competitive match was the Ranji semi-final against Jammu and Kashmir in February 2026, where an L5 stress fracture stopped him. Being cleared and being match-hardened are different things, so the next few days carry more weight than any certificate.
The rest of India are led by Pant, with Sarfaraz Khan as vice-captain, and Akash Deep shares the pace load with Mukesh Kumar and Mukesh Choudhary. Jammu and Kashmir, captained by Dogra, bowled Rest of India out for 237 on day one. Akash Deep and Choudhary then claimed the two early Jammu and Kashmir wickets, a start that suits a seamer proving his body can handle a spell.
The Pace Group for New Zealand
The reported pace group for the Tests, which run from 19 November to 1 December, names Bumrah, Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Gurnoor Brar. That list is not official, so nothing is locked in. Shami and Auqib Nabi have been left out of it, which shows how many bowlers selectors are prepared to leave behind.
Bumrah was reported out injured on 2 September, yet no injury has been confirmed and he took 2 wickets in the Asian Games semi-final on 1 October. Siraj and Prasidh are both available, while Brar’s fitness is unclear. Pragyan Ojha, the interim chairman, was expected in Srinagar, though his attendance is unconfirmed. If he watches, a clean spell from Akash Deep lands in front of the right person.
The crowded list also changes what a good week looks like. With Siraj and Prasidh available, nobody in this group needs a favour, so Akash Deep has to separate himself by doing the basics well for the length of a full spell.
Test Record and Workload Questions
Akash Deep has played 10 Tests and taken 28 wickets at an average of 35.78, with best figures of 6/99 and one 10-wicket match. His last Test was against England on 31 July 2025. That is a respectable return, but an average in the mid-thirties will not settle an argument with Bumrah or Siraj.
The gap since that Test matters as much as the numbers. His last competitive match before this one ended with the stress fracture, so the selectors have seen almost nothing of him this year. Smooth workloads across this game would answer the fitness question, and a few wickets would start to answer the form question.
Context helps him a little. Ten Tests and a 10-wicket match show he can win a game when conditions suit, and few in this field can say as much. The open question is whether his body and rhythm are back to that standard, and only overs in the middle can settle it.
Mukesh Kumar and the Other Challengers
Mukesh Kumar is the quiet threat in the Rest of India camp. He has played 3 Tests, taking 7 wickets at an average of 25.57, which is stronger than Akash Deep’s record on paper. His last Test came in February 2024, so the sample is both small and old, and it will not carry him far without fresh red-ball evidence. Choudhary shared the two early wickets with Akash Deep on day one, so the pair are level on the one piece of evidence available.
That fresh evidence is missing for both Mukesh Kumar and Choudhary, because there is no recent red-ball form on record to separate them from the pack. It leaves a narrow opening at Srinagar. If the Akash Deep Irani Cup 2026 injury return ends with wickets and no setback, the pace debate gets much harder for selectors.
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