An Oddsworth Opinion
The Irani Cup case for Mukesh Kumar
The view doing the rounds is that Mukesh Kumar’s Irani Cup show should move him ahead of Akash Deep for the New Zealand Tests. In men’s Tests, Mukesh has taken seven wickets at a bowling average of 25.57 across three matches, against Akash’s 28 wickets at 35.79 across ten. Anyone treating Akash’s longer run in the side as a settled answer has to reckon with that. Mukesh has given selectors a serious reason to look again.
The case Mukesh has made
Against South Africa, Mukesh took four wickets for 56 runs from 12.2 overs. Against West Indies he took two for 53; against England, one for 70. The South Africa return gives his Test case its sharpest edge, while those other outings show how little of his international bowling selectors have seen. His Irani Cup performance has brought him back into contention at precisely the moment India must choose for a two-Test series.
That timing matters, but it cannot carry the decision by itself. An Irani Cup show may prompt another look; it cannot turn three Tests into a settled account of what Mukesh will give India against New Zealand. His bowling average earns him consideration without settling which of the Bengal bowlers should play.
Akash’s claim is harder to dismiss
Akash has already bowled in two Tests against New Zealand, returning no wickets for 41 runs in one and two for 32 in the other. Against England, he later took ten for 187 in a match, then followed it with one for 122 and two for 165 in his next two Tests. That sequence contains a performance Mukesh has yet to match in Tests, followed by figures that leave the place open to challenge.
Across Akash’s nine most recent Tests, his bowling average is 36.76, against the men’s Test bowling benchmark of 29.29 for September 2024 to September 2026. The England haul deserves its weight; so does the run around it. Keeping him in contention is sensible. Treating that one match as a permanent answer would be as rash as treating Mukesh’s Irani Cup show as one.
2.8 a match in his career
The selection call
India have a choice between a bowler whose brief Test career has produced the better average and one who has shown more across a longer, uneven run. Mukesh should remain in contention, and his Irani Cup show has earned him that much. It has not, on its own, justified putting him ahead of Akash Deep for the New Zealand Tests.