India vs England: Meet Anshul Kamboj, the AK-47 of Indian pace attack

It was an unusual initiation for Anshul Kamboj, the strapping fast bowler from Haryana better known as AK-47 among his statemates, in the confines of Indian dressing room on Monday, 21 July. The 24-year-old, a surprise addition to the squad for the last two Tests, was part of the Indian side which visited Manchester United’s Theatre of Dreams for a mixed training session of cricket and football with the Red Devils.

 Lady luck smiled on Anshul, who was drafted in the senior squad for last two Tests against England due to a double injury blow to the regular pacers – Arshdeep Singh who hurt his bowling arm while fielding on Saturday in Manchester and a groin injury for Akash Deep. With doubts persisting on whether Jasprit Bumrah plays in the crucial Test at the Old Trafford beginning on Wednesday, chances for Anshul’s Test debut has certainly opened up.

 While Anshul’s photos of training with the Indian team at United’s hallowed turf has gone viral on social media, the BCCI is yet to notify on ir or the extent of Akash Deep’s injury.  The right-arm medium pacer from Haryana, a part of India A squad in the two unofficial Tests in England earlier, was a moderate success - picking up two wickets in either innings of the second Test from 6-9 July in Northampton. A handy lower order batter, Anshul scored 51 not out after coming out to bat at No. 9 in the second innings and added 149 for the ninth wicket with Tanush Kotian.

An epic crossover 🔝

Indian Cricket Team 🤝🏻 Manchester United#TeamIndia | @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/VNcovRIs5X

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 21, 2025

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Even though Anshul made his first class debut in 2022, he grabbed the eyeballs in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season with a phenomenal haul of 10 wickets for 49 runs during Haryana’s Ranji Trophy 2024-25 Elite Group C match against Kerala at Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak from 13-16 November. The Karnal-born cricketer hence became only the third bowler after Bengal’s Premangsu Chatterjee (1956–57) and Rajasthan’s Pradeep Sundaram (1985–86) to take all 10 wickets in an innings of a Ranji Trophy match.

 In the 2024 edition of the Duleep Trophy, Kamboj played three matches for India C for his 16 batters. After a IPL debut for the Mumbai Indians last year when he picked up two wickets in three matches, he was released by them but Chennai Super Kings opened their doors in the mega auction for a decent package of Rs 3.40 crores.

 Anshul made his debut against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai on April 11 and picked up one wicket while finishing the 2025 season with eight wickets in as many matches – proving to be one of the few bright spots for the yellow shirts along with teenager Ayush Mhatre.

 His nickname AK-47 (after the gun) sounds almost cheeky but Anshul had calrified about it during an interview with Revsportz earlier this year. ‘’It’s just a coincidence that it matched with my initial AK followed by the shirt number I picked. Sometimes, my teammates call me that. People usually choose numbers based on their birthdays, but I chose something different. There’s not much to read about it,’’ Anshul said when he was in Kolkata for a Ranji outing against Bengal.

 It sounds cool for a fast bowler to be nicknamed AK-47 but now, the onus is on Anshul to live upto it!