sanjeev
khelja|26-01-2025
Former India opener Aakash Chopra criticised the England batters for another below-par show in the ongoing T20I series. The visitors are 0-2 trailing in the five-match series after losing the second T20I at Chepauk Stadium, Chennai.
The star-studded line-up crumbled under pressure and struggled to tackle the Indian spinners in the first two matches. The opening pair of Phil Salt and Ben Duckett failed to register double-digit scores in back-to-back matches, while skipper Jos Buttler remained the only specialist batter who showed impressive signs for the visitors.
Chopra took a shot at Royal Challengers Bengaluru while describing the wickets of their new recruits, Salt and Liam Livingstone, as the duo failed to live up to expectations so far in the series.
"Washi (Washington Sundar) picked up a wicket with his first ball. The bucket (Ben) Duckett has got here seems to have all holes. Four runs in the first match and three in the second. Arshdeep (Singh) dismisses Salt in any case. Salt got out and then Liam got out, and I was reminded of RCB again," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
'…the England guys should feel ashamed'
After the first T20I, England star Harry Brook suggested that the evening smog in Kolkata made it doubly harder to pick mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. However, things won't change much for them in Chennai, as Chopra said that the English batters should be ashamed of themselves for such excuses.
"What AQI excuse do you give, the England guys should feel ashamed. Harry Brook said after the last match that he couldn't see the ball due to smog. The ball was visible this time but it still hit his stumps. It was a short ball, you played on the front foot and it hit your stumps. You are unable to read the ball from the hand," he observed.
Chopra was also critical of the England openers' shot selection as they failed to get going in both innings.
"Duckett was playing a reverse sweep off the first ball. What are you doing? You might have played Washi for the first time in your life. It seemed like Phil Salt was playing well. It was a short ball and he could have hit it to third man as the fielder was in, but he dragged it to the leg side and was caught in the deep," Chopra elaborated.