Birthday Special: Host and Dost Aakash Chopra turns 43
One of the many openers tried by India to balance out the charm and flamboyance of Virender Sehwag at the other end, Aakash Chopra was a classical opener. Solid technique and his subtle temperament perfectly suited to his occupation of the crease and seeing off the new ball. Chopra is also known for his excellent catching in the close-in position of short-leg. Those traits came handy for him, and India, just when they were hunting desperately for a pair of good openers. His primary role was to see off the new ball and build a solid platform with Sehwag, helping him slap the leather off it at the other end.
In domestic cricket
Former India opener, who turns 43 today, was born in Agra, Uttar Pradesh on September 19, 1977. Chopra represented Delhi and India and played 10 Tests between 2003 and 2004. He scored a couple of fifties with his highest score being 60. However, he played First-Class cricket for Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan at the domestic level till 2012. He has a triple ton to his name as well and has over 10,000 First-Class runs at an average of over 45, with 29 tons and 53 half-centuries.
Unfortunately, the lack of big scores to back his solid technique, and his lack of versatility in the game, led India to eye at more aggressive options such as Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif going forward, and Aakash Chopra became a fringe squad player in the Indian dressing room. He was dropped from the team after a poor run in the home series against Australia in 2004. However, he was a regular feature in the domestic setup of India.
He made his Ranji Trophy debut in the 1997-98 season and scored a century. He went on to score 5,075 runs over 78 matches. Chopra jumped ships to Rajasthan in 2009 and helped the team to back-to-back Ranji Trophy triumphs from 2009 to 2011. He was among runs in the 2007-08 title-winning season of the Ranji Trophy for Delhi, where he scored 783, followed by 332 runs in the 50-over format at a whopping average of 332, with three hundreds and a strike rate over 100. He amassed 310 runs in the Duleep Trophy for North Zone, to lead them to a win.
In the later stages
His List A career was impressive as well. In his 65 matches, he scored 2,415 runs at an average of 44.72. He, however, never got an opportunity to play limited-overs cricket for India. He has represented Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but after failing to live up to the standards with the bat in a youth-dominated league, he retired from all forms of cricket.
Even if he played only 10 Tests for India, Chopra is still remembered for his patient knocks played alongside Virender Sehwag when the team was in desperate need of a solid opener. Also, the trait of being patient is kind of lost in modern cricket with the youngsters focussing more on the shortest format. But this man was solid at the top and a proper Test player with a special quality of playing the waiting game.
Winning hearts with his commentary and insights
Chopra, now a successful commentator, played his last competitive match for Himachal Pradesh against Punjab during the 2013/14 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He is now a well-known critic, commentator, and author and he wrote a book titled “Beyond the Blues: A First-Class season like no other,” which was a diary of his prolific 2007-08 season, followed by “Out of the Blue”, about Rajasthan’s Ranji Trophy win in the 2011-12 season.
