Former India opener Aakash Chopra recently opened up on being trolled by England’s spin-bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali. He revealed that the incident took place during England’s final Test of the five-match series against India in 2016. Ad Chopra stated that ahead of the match, he spoke about Moeen’s short-ball woes during a show. He mentioned that the southpaw ended up hitting a century the next day. The cricketer-turned-commentator noted that, unhappy with his remarks, Moeen posted Chopra’s statistics on social media. Sharing the story, the 48-year-old said on journalist Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel: “A fellow cricketer trolled me. If the fans are trolling you, you get used to it. It happened when I was working for Cricinfo, and while doing some analysis, I said something about Moeen Ali’s problems against the short ball. I felt that the short ball should be used against him because he doesn’t have the defensive game for it, and you can create a trap by putting two fielders back. So, we made a demo showing why he can’t play the short ball. It was during the Chennai Test, and he scored a hundred in that game. Ad Trending “So, he made a tweet that evening, where he posted my stats. He was obviously upset. As he was a fellow cricketer, I replied to him that at least you don’t have a problem with my analysis. You have a problem with my stats, I agree, but you didn’t find a fault in my analysis because that’s my job now.” Ad Chopra pointed out that Moeen lost his wicket to a short-pitched delivery on the next day and ended up apologizing to him for the tweet. He added: “Interestingly, the next morning, Ishant Sharma was bowling, and India placed three fielders in the deep. Bouncers were bowled right from the start. He hit a four and then got out right there. I felt validated, but of course, I didn’t go to Moeen and say, see, my analysis was right. However, he apologised afterwards,” he added. Ad Moeen scored 146 runs off 262 balls in England’s first innings. However, his knock was overshadowed by Karun Nair’s unbeaten 303 off 381, which was instrumental in India’s 75-run win. “I fell short and couldn’t do justice to that moment” Aakash Chopra on doing commentary during Sri Lankan legend farewell Test Aakash Chopra also spoke about a cricketing moment where he felt his commentary was not up to the mark. He admitted that he was underprepared during Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell Test and ultimately failed to meet the expectations. Ad He said during the same interview: “I was just starting out in 2015, and I was not prepared. It was Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell match. It was at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, and it was my first time doing bilingual commentary. When he got out, my co-commentator placed his mike upside down and asked me to take over. Now, Aakash can only take over when he is prepared for that. I fell short and couldn’t do justice to that moment.” Sangakkara retired from Test cricket in August 2015. He registered scores of 32 and 18 in his farewell match. × Feedback Why did you not like this content? Clickbait / Misleading Factually Incorrect Hateful or Abusive Baseless Opinion Too Many Ads Other Was this article helpful? Thank You for feedback Get real-time updates on IPL 2025, live scores, IPL Prediction, match schedule, points table, Result & squad -CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai.
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“We are making ODI-type selection” – Former opener’s blunt remark on India’s playing XI for IND vs SA 2025 1st Test
Former opener Aakash Chopra has criticized the Indian team management for their playing XI selection in the first Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Chopra questioned the rationale behind including six bowlers in the squad, three of whom are spin bowling all-rounders, suggesting that the lineup resembled more of an ODI or T20I team rather than a traditional Test side.
India dominated the opening day of the match on Friday, November 14. After losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, the hosts dismissed South Africa for 159 runs in 55 overs. India then ended the day at 37 for 1 after 20 overs.
Despite India’s strong performance in the field, Chopra was unconvinced by the decision to drop Sai Sudharsan in favor of playing six bowlers. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said, “There was a time when teams used to play with four bowlers and, once in a while, you used to play five. Then Kohli came in and said, I will play five. He created that template. But the new dispensation wants six bowlers. Now, we have taken Test cricket to that space where we are making ODI-type selection and T20-type selection. Let’s take a chance at No. 3 as well.”
Highlighting the bowling efforts on Day 1, Jasprit Bumrah stood out with a sensational performance, claiming 5 wickets for 27 runs from 14 overs. Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav contributed with two wickets each. When India batted, Washington Sundar was promoted to the No. 3 spot.
However, Chopra raised concerns over Sundar’s bowling workload during South Africa’s innings. “Sundar bowled only one over,” he pointed out, emphasizing the impracticality of the six-bowler policy. “When this match ends, we will say that at least two bowlers have been under-bowled. In the first innings, Washington Sundar bowled only one over. What are we doing? In the first session, we bowled 27 overs and used six bowlers. We don’t do this even in one-dayers using six bowlers to send down 27 overs.”
In the first innings, while Sundar was limited to just a single over, other spin options like Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel bowled eight and six overs respectively. Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav both delivered 14 overs, and Mohammed Siraj bowled 12.
Chopra’s critique highlights a growing debate around India’s team selection strategy in Test cricket and whether the inclusion of multiple all-rounders is truly beneficial in the longer format.
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