Aakash Chopra

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Aakash Chopra Biography

A stonewaller at the top and one of the greatest short-leg fielders India have produced, Aakash Chopra played 10 Tests between October 2003 and October 2004. He took 15 catches, some of them exceptional, while his 437 runs came at 23, but to his credit he hung around for 66 balls every time he batted under challenging circumstances.

Not that he complained, for he had to drop anchor as the swashbuckling Delhi batsmen went about bludgeoning the bowlers. He opened with his Delhi mate Virender Sehwag 11 times away from home — in Australia in 2003-04 and in Pakistan in 2004 — averaging 58 per dismissal. In Australia their 8 stands got them 459 runs at 57.

He started well, crossing 30 in each of his first 5 innings, and though he got only 2 fifties, there were 4 other scores in excess of 40. His axing came abruptly, when India decided to push Yuvraj Singh to the top despite Chopra’s gutsy performances.

Chopra had risen through the Under-19 ranks, and once in the Delhi team he found runs quickly, amassing 554 in his first season at 69. He topped the 900-run mark in the domestic seasons of 2000-01 and 2001-02, both at averages in excess of 60. Unfortunately, an anterior cruciate ligament delayed his Test debut in 2002-03.

He never played after 2003-04, but he suddenly found form four seasons later, when he scored 1,339 runs in four-day cricket and slammed three unbeaten quickfire hundreds in Vijay Hazare Trophy. So belligerent were his innings that he earned an IPL contract with Kolkata Knight Riders. But despite India’s opening problems he was left out of the squad for the 2007-08 tour to Australia as Sehwag was called up out of nowhere.

Chopra later moved to Rajasthan, and played a key role in them their first two Ranji titles — that too in consecutive seasons, starting from the Plate Group in the first season. This also included 301 not out against Maharashtra — a marathon spread over 13-and-a-half hours. He also played for Himachal Pradesh, and finished with 10,389 First-Class runs at 45.

He later became a popular columnist and commentator. His two books — Beyond the Blues: A First-Class Season Like No Other and Out of the Blue: Rajasthan’s Road to the Ranji Trophy are the greatest books written by Indian Test cricketers.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Aakash Chopra Batting & Fielding Averages

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Aakash Chopra Bowling Averages

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News ON Aakash Chopra

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Features ON Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra: Finest writer among Indian Test cricketers

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