No reason for me to feel inferior to someone who has played 100 Tests, states Aakash Chopra

Infamously known for his tuk-tuk approach with the bat, Aakash Chopra, over the course of the last five years, has become an extremely famous figure in Indian cricket ranks thanks to his witty commentary and his banter on social media. His candid remarks coupled with his no-nonsense approach with the mic in his hand, much in contrast to his batting style, has helped him find a place in the hearts of the fans and be one of the voices of Indian cricket.

However, unlike his stint in front of the camera, Chopra’s Test career never took off, and he could only represent India in 10 Test matches before eventually getting permanently axed from the side. But the 42-year-old believes that having an underwhelming career as a cricketer is no reason for him to feel inferior to veterans who have played 100 Tests and attested that his underachievement with the bat will not stop him from spitting out truth bombs live on air.

"There is no reason for me to feel inferior to someone who has played a 100 Test matches. Of course, he will still know a lot of things more than me, but there are things that are universal truths,” Chopra told Cricbuzz.

“I take digs at my own career. When someone is playing very slowly in a T20, I will say, "Yeh Aakash Chopra jaisa khel raha hai". I make fun of myself but that doesn't stop me from saying that Virat Kohli played a bad shot. That's my obligation to the job. With no grudges, I'm happy to stand corrected if I'm wrong."

While life as an analyst has been great for Chopra, the former Delhi and Rajasthan batsman still had to cross a few thorny paths in his journey, especially early on in his new-found career, and one such uncomfortable encounter came in 2016, when he had a public spat on Twitter versus England’s Moeen Ali. Chopra, who was an analyst for ESPN Cricinfo back then, tweeted a video of him criticizing Ali’s technique against the short ball, something that irked the left-hander, who got back at the former Indian opener with a sarcastic remark mocking his Test career.

Reflecting on the incident, Chopra said that he couldn’t care less about people mocking his career statistics and revealed that all that was important was whether he was factually correct when it came to the analysis he provided. The opener, who was part of the underdog Rajasthan side that won back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles, stated that his cricketing career was well and truly behind him and that he now purely sees himself as an analyst. 

"My greatest takeaway from the Moeen Ali incident was that he had an issue with my career stats and not with something that I had said. So if you're not having an issue with the technical or analytical point that I'm making, it doesn't make a difference to me. 

“If I say the head of the batsman is falling when it is not, then it is a different thing. If you have a problem that I've scored 25 runs less than someone else, then that's not what I'm here for. I was paid at a different time to play, now I'm paid to voice my opinion."