London, January 22
England pacer Gus Atkinson, who is likely to make his Test debut during the five-match series against India in the subcontinent, said on Monday that he looking to emerge as an impact bowler and is likely to do it through short, sharp spells.
India will start the home series against England on January 25 in Hyderabad. England's new-look Test side will be led by skipper Ben Stokes, who is riding high on the success of his and head coach Brendon McCullum's 'Bazball' approach to Test cricket, which has given them some fine returns so far with its attacking and positive nature.
Within less than a year, Atkinson has gone on from sitting outside Surrey's team to playing the ICC Cricket World Cup for England, getting a central contract, an Indian Premier League (IPL) deal with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the Test squad.
India will be a different challenge for Team England as Indian stars do not feature in overseas T20 tournaments.
Atkinson will be facing Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the first time.
Managing his workload will also be a challenge as after Harry Brook's withdrawal from the squad, he is the only player who played the World Cup and played both white-ball formats during the tour to West Indies.
"People talk about your pace and you get picked because you can bowl quick. You have to and you want to bowl quick so that is definitely something that I am going to focus on. Short, sharp spells in India is probably the way I imagine it going. Sort of an impact bowler," said Atkinson, according to ESPNCricinfo.
Atkinson's selection was well celebrated and his peers would nudge him that he will get to play Test cricket soon. It was during the West Indies tour that McCullum informed him that he was playing.
The pacer said that his dad, who loves Test cricket, was very happy.
"Test cricket is the one that you look at as a kid and think, yeah, that's the pinnacle. I try to stay as level as possible and just sort of treat a call-up as a call-up, which is obviously an exciting thing," said Atkinson.
"I think more for my Dad, he was very happy. He loves Test cricket and he lives in Dubai, so even if I am not playing, I am sure he will be trying to come out as much as he can. My brother and sister did not come out for the World Cup, but I am sure they might try the Test series. I think they enjoy me playing for England. My sister is always watching the games, and my brother as well," he added.
Atkinson's professional progress over the last few months has been admirable, especially considering that three months after his Surrey debut back in August 2020, his mother Caroline was killed in a car crash.
"When it happened I sort of said, my career can go one of two ways. You can sort of fall off a bit and stuff, but you know, I did not want to let that happen. It is very special, but it is also sad, because it would be amazing for her to see where I am now. I am sure she'd be loving it," he said.
Fame, money and success are known to change lives. How has life changed for this 26-year-old pacer?
Gus said, "Errr...When people ask for a group photo, I am getting used to the fact they also want me in it."
Group photos, shoulder taps on the way home inside the team bus, occasional calls of 'Gus' in the streets serve as a reminder of the fact that he is an all-format pacer for England.
"It is a difficult one...because I do not want to say I feel like I am where I should be. But I do not think you can look at it and say, 'Oh, he was not even getting into the Surrey team six months ago. Why is he playing for England?' Because I feel like I should be an England player, and I am an England player," he said.
England Test squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root and Mark Wood.