Akash Chopra
Encyclopedia
Aakash Chopra is an India
n cricket
er, who played for the Indian cricket team
from late 2003 until late 2004 as a defensive opening batsman and close catcher in Test match
es who evoked comparisons with Eknath Solkar
. He was noted for his calm demeanour and jovial approach to cricket.
, Chopra made his domestic limited overs debut in the 1996/97 season, before debuting the following season in 1997/98 in the Ranji Trophy
. He batted productively in his first season, compiling 422 runs at 70.33 including two centuries. He was rewarded with selection for North Zone
in his first year, playing in their only Duleep Trophy
match and compiling half-centuries in both innings. His second season however, was poor compiling only 117 runs at an average of 19.5, resulting in his omission from the North Zone team. Chopra recovered in his third Ranji season, scoring 309 runs at 44 including one century, but was again overlooked as North Zone went on to claim the Duleep Trophy. He continued his form the following season with 617 runs at 68.55, including two centuries including a double century, 222. Chopra bounced back from his omission from the previous season's Duleep winning North Zone team, scoring two centuries and averaging 74.5 as they completed consecutive titles. Chopra compiled 479 at 53 with one century in the following Ranji campaign. His Duleep Trophy performances were better, compiling 478 runs at 95.6, including two centuries in four matches, ranking him fourth in the run scoring list, but was unable to secure a hat-trick of Duleep titles for North Zone. Chopra continued his consistent form in the Ranji Trophy in 2002/03 with 525 runs at 47.7, but was forced to miss the Duleep campaign due to injury.
against New Zealand
in late 2003 as India sought to find an opening partner for his Delhi team-mate Virender Sehwag
. Chopra's international career started well enough, scoring two half-centuries against New Zealand
during 2003/04 in the second Test in Mohali
. On the 2003-04 tour to Australia, he featured in many solid parerships with Virender Sehwag
, including two century opening partnerships in Melbourne
and Sydney
. Chopra's work in seeing off the new ball saw him credited with the large scores that India accumulated in that series when middle-order batsmen Rahul Dravid
, V. V. S. Laxman
and Sachin Tendulkar
regularly compiled large centuries.
On the subsequent tour to Pakistan, he combined with another century stand with Sehwag as India passed 600 in the first innings to set up a large innings defeat of arch-rivals Pakistan in the first Test in Multan
. However, in the second Test, the Indian batsmen failed in a losing effort, apart from a century from Yuvraj Singh
, who was playing in place of injured captain Sourav Ganguly
. When Ganguly returned for the final Test, it was Chopra who was axed and Yuvraj retained.
Chopra was reintroduced as Sehwag's partner in the 2004 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
after Tendulkar was injured for the First Test in Bangalore
. However, a heavy loss saw Chopra axed for the following match in Chennai
upon Tendulkar's return, with Yuvraj elevated to opening the innings. Yuvraj also struggled, and Chopra was recalled for the Third Test in Nagpur
. However, a double failure by Chopra, as Australia won a series in India for the first time in 35 years, saw him dropped for the last time, after his career average gradually decreased, however, from 46.25 to only 23. Chopra was replaced by Delhi team-mate Gautam Gambhir
, and has since been overtaken by Gair and Wasim Jaffer
in the race to partner Sehwag in the Test side. Due to his low scoring rate, he has not been considered for One Day Internationals.
in IPL 2, but was sent back to India as he was deemed surplus to requirements. In IPL 4 he has been signed by Rajasthan Royals
.
and Cricinfo
. He is currently a guest in SET Max
's, an Indian entertainment channel who is telecasting the IPL
matches, Extraaa Innings T20.
In 2009 Chopra released Beyond the Blues: A First-Class Season Like No Other. The book is a diary of Chopra's 2007–08 domestic season. It was published by Harper Collins. It was critically acclaimed and Suresh Menon of Cricinfo
, who wrote that it was "the best book written by an Indian Test cricketer.In November 2011, his second book was published by Harper Collins titled 'Out Of The Blue'."
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, who played for the Indian cricket team
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
from late 2003 until late 2004 as a defensive opening batsman and close catcher in Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
es who evoked comparisons with Eknath Solkar
Eknath Solkar
Eknath Dhondu 'Ekki' Solkar was an Indian all-round cricketer who played 27 Tests and seven One Day Internationals for his country...
. He was noted for his calm demeanour and jovial approach to cricket.
Early years
A classical opening batsman, Chopra was known more for his solid technique and defence than for his flamboyant stroke-play, typically trying to wait for the new ball to lose its shine, rather than hitting the shine off the ball. An opener in his state team, DelhiDelhi cricket team
The Delhi cricket team is one of the first-class cricket teams, that plays in India's domestic competition, the Ranji Trophy. They have won the tournament seven times and have been runners-up seven. Their latest title in 2007-08 came after a long wait of 16 years. The previous win was in the...
, Chopra made his domestic limited overs debut in the 1996/97 season, before debuting the following season in 1997/98 in the Ranji Trophy
Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between different city and state sides, equivalent to the County Championship in England and the Sheffield Shield in Australia...
. He batted productively in his first season, compiling 422 runs at 70.33 including two centuries. He was rewarded with selection for North Zone
North Zone cricket team
The North Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents northern India in the Duleep Trophy. It is a composite team of players from six first-class Indian teams from northern India competing in the Ranji Trophy: Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and...
in his first year, playing in their only Duleep Trophy
Duleep Trophy
The Duleep Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition played in India between teams representing geographical zones of India. The competition is named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji .-History:...
match and compiling half-centuries in both innings. His second season however, was poor compiling only 117 runs at an average of 19.5, resulting in his omission from the North Zone team. Chopra recovered in his third Ranji season, scoring 309 runs at 44 including one century, but was again overlooked as North Zone went on to claim the Duleep Trophy. He continued his form the following season with 617 runs at 68.55, including two centuries including a double century, 222. Chopra bounced back from his omission from the previous season's Duleep winning North Zone team, scoring two centuries and averaging 74.5 as they completed consecutive titles. Chopra compiled 479 at 53 with one century in the following Ranji campaign. His Duleep Trophy performances were better, compiling 478 runs at 95.6, including two centuries in four matches, ranking him fourth in the run scoring list, but was unable to secure a hat-trick of Duleep titles for North Zone. Chopra continued his consistent form in the Ranji Trophy in 2002/03 with 525 runs at 47.7, but was forced to miss the Duleep campaign due to injury.
International
Chopra made his Test debut in AhmedabadAhmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
in late 2003 as India sought to find an opening partner for his Delhi team-mate Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag , affectionately known as Viru, the Nawab of Najafgarh, or the Zen master of modern cricket, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler...
. Chopra's international career started well enough, scoring two half-centuries against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
during 2003/04 in the second Test in Mohali
Mohali
Mohali is a city adjacent to Chandigarh, 18th District in Punjab, India. It is officially named after the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh, Sahibzada Ajit Singh . It, along with Chandigarh and Panchkula, form a part of the Chandigarh Tricity...
. On the 2003-04 tour to Australia, he featured in many solid parerships with Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag , affectionately known as Viru, the Nawab of Najafgarh, or the Zen master of modern cricket, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler...
, including two century opening partnerships in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Chopra's work in seeing off the new ball saw him credited with the large scores that India accumulated in that series when middle-order batsmen Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid
Rahul Sharad Dravid , is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers...
, V. V. S. Laxman
V. V. S. Laxman
Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman , sometimes shortened to Venkatsai Laxman but generally known as V.V.S. Laxman, is an Indian cricketer. Laxman represents Hyderabad in domestic cricket and has played for Lancashire in English county cricket. Laxman is the great grand nephew of Dr. Sarvepalli...
and Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
regularly compiled large centuries.
On the subsequent tour to Pakistan, he combined with another century stand with Sehwag as India passed 600 in the first innings to set up a large innings defeat of arch-rivals Pakistan in the first Test in Multan
Multan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
. However, in the second Test, the Indian batsmen failed in a losing effort, apart from a century from Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh Bhandal is an Indian cricketer, and the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh. He has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000 and played his first Test match in 2003. He was the vice captain of the ODI team from late-2007 to late-2008...
, who was playing in place of injured captain Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly is a former Indian cricketer, and captain of the Indian national team. Born into an affluent family, Ganguly was introduced into the world of cricket by his elder brother Snehasish. He is regarded as one of India's most successful captains in modern times. He started his...
. When Ganguly returned for the final Test, it was Chopra who was axed and Yuvraj retained.
Chopra was reintroduced as Sehwag's partner in the 2004 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
The Border–Gavaskar Trophy is a Test cricket series, played between India and Australia. It has witnessed some of the most competitive Test series played in recent years, with results usually either being a narrow win for one of the sides or a closely fought draw...
after Tendulkar was injured for the First Test in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. However, a heavy loss saw Chopra axed for the following match in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
upon Tendulkar's return, with Yuvraj elevated to opening the innings. Yuvraj also struggled, and Chopra was recalled for the Third Test in Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
. However, a double failure by Chopra, as Australia won a series in India for the first time in 35 years, saw him dropped for the last time, after his career average gradually decreased, however, from 46.25 to only 23. Chopra was replaced by Delhi team-mate Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir is an Indian cricketer, a batsman. He has been a member of the Indian national cricket team since 2003 and 2004...
, and has since been overtaken by Gair and Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right arm off-break bowler.-Early years:...
in the race to partner Sehwag in the Test side. Due to his low scoring rate, he has not been considered for One Day Internationals.
IPL
He played for Kolkata Knight RidersKolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders is the franchise representing Kolkata in the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. Sourav Ganguly led the team in IPL1 and IPL3, Brendon McCullum in IPL2, and Gautam Gambhir in IPL4...
in IPL 2, but was sent back to India as he was deemed surplus to requirements. In IPL 4 he has been signed by Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals is an Indian Premier League franchise based on the city of the Jaipur captained and coached by former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.They were the champions of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League...
.
Ranji
After representing Delhi for a long time, Chopra joined Rajasthan as a guest player in Ranji Plate division.He helped Rajasthan to become the first Plate division team to win the Ranji Trophy.Media
His columns are also regularly appearing in Hindustan TimesHindustan Times
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
and Cricinfo
Cricinfo
ESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
. He is currently a guest in SET Max
SET Max
SET Max is Sony Entertainment Television Network's channel that provides its viewers a mix of Hindi Movies and cricket based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Among Hindi movie channels it competes mainly with Zee Cinema and STAR Gold in India. An HD version of the channel was introduced in 2010.-External...
's, an Indian entertainment channel who is telecasting the IPL
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...
matches, Extraaa Innings T20.
In 2009 Chopra released Beyond the Blues: A First-Class Season Like No Other. The book is a diary of Chopra's 2007–08 domestic season. It was published by Harper Collins. It was critically acclaimed and Suresh Menon of Cricinfo
Cricinfo
ESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
, who wrote that it was "the best book written by an Indian Test cricketer.In November 2011, his second book was published by Harper Collins titled 'Out Of The Blue'."