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Aakash Chopra

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Aakash Chopra
Personal information
OccupationYouTuber
YouTube information
ChannelsAakash Chopra [1]
Years active2011–present
Genre(s)Cricket Analysis, Updates, News
Subscribers4.05 million
Total views1.2 billion
100,000 subscribers2018
1,000,000 subscribers2019
Last updated: 19 September 2022
Aakash Chopra
Personal information
Born (1977-09-19) 19 September 1977 (age 47)
Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
Right-arm off break
RoleBatsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 246)8 October 2003 v New Zealand
Last Test26 October 2004 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1997-2009/10Delhi
2010-2011/12Rajasthan
2012/13Himachal Pradesh
2008–2009Kolkata Knight Riders
2011Rajasthan Royals
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA
Matches 10 162 65
Runs scored 437 10,839 2,415
Batting average 23.00 45.35 44.72
100s/50s 0/2 29/53 7/17
Top score 60 301* 130*
Balls bowled – 546 84
Wickets – 6 1
Bowling average – 53.33 58.00
5 wickets in innings – 0 0
10 wickets in match – 0 0
Best bowling – 2/5 1/17
Catches/stumpings 25/– 189/– 29/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 1 July 2020

Aakash Chopra pronunciationⓘ (born 19 September 1977) is a cricket commentator, YouTuber and former cricketer who played for the Indian cricket team from 2003 to late 2004.[1]

Chopra currently works as Hindi cricket commentator for Viacom18.[2] He previously worked as a column writer for ESPNcricinfo.[3]

His international cricket career consisted of 10 test matches, in which he scored 437 runs with an average of 23 per match.[4]

In Indian domestic cricket, Chopra played for the Delhi cricket team, Himachal Pradesh cricket team and Rajasthan cricket team. He also played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

Cricket career

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International

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Chopra made his Test debut in Ahmedabad against New Zealand in late 2003, as India sought to find an opening partner for his Delhi teammate Virender Sehwag.[1] During the 2003-2004 second Test in Mohali, Chopra scored two half-centuries against New Zealand. On the 2003–04 tour to Australia, he frequently partnered with Virender Sehwag, including two century opening partnerships in Melbourne and Sydney. As an opening batsman, Chopra was credited with the large scores that India accumulated in that series, surpassing middle-order batsmen Rahul Dravid, V. V. S. Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly who regularly scored centuries.[1]

On the subsequent tour to Pakistan, Chopra scored 42 runs in the first test match wherein Virender Sehwag scored the First ever triple century for an Indian & India scored more than 600 runs in the first innings. India went on to defeat Pakistan in the first Test in Multan. However, in the second Test, the Indian batsmen scored much lower, apart from a century from Yuvraj Singh, who played in place of the injured captain Sourav Ganguly.[5] When Ganguly returned for the final Test, Chopra was axed and Yuvraj was retained on the team.

Chopra was reintroduced as Sehwag's partner in the 2004 Border-Gavaskar Trophy after Tendulkar was injured for the First Test in Bangalore. A heavy loss saw Chopra axed for the following match in Chennai upon Tendulkar's return, with Yuvraj playing as opening batsman. Yuvraj also struggled, and Chopra was recalled for the Third Test in Nagpur. Australia won this series, the first test win in India for them in 35 years, and this resulted in Chopra being dropped from the team. Chopra was replaced by Delhi teammates Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Jaffer, who went on to partner Sehwag in Test matches. Due to his low scoring rate, Chopra was not considered for One Day Internationals. [citation needed]

Domestic

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In September 2008, Aakash played for Delhi in the Nissar Trophy against SNGPL (the winners of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy from Pakistan). Delhi scored 4 and 197,[6] making the match a draw, but SNGPL won the trophy based on first-innings lead.[7] After representing Delhi for a long time, Chopra joined Rajasthan as a guest player in the Ranji Plate division.[8] Chopra helped Rajasthan to become the first Plate division team to win the Ranji Trophy, followed by another Ranji trophy win in 2010–2011 season. Chopra has won three Ranji titles in total, one with Delhi and two with Rajasthan. [citation needed]

IPL

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Chopra played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2008, IPL 2009, but was dropped eventually as he was deemed too slow at scoring for fast-paced T-20 cricket.[citation needed]

In IPL 2011, Chopra was signed by the Rajasthan Royals. In that season he scored just 53 runs with a low average of 8.83 runs across 6 innings. In 2015, he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.[9] Chopra is one of the few Indian cricketers who have scored over 8,000 First-Class runs.[10]

Cricket commentary career

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Chopra was a cricket commentator for Star Sports for a long time.[11] His cricket commentary style has been described as similar to Navjot Singh Sidhu, in that he uses lots of one-liners and rhymes.[12]

During the 2018–19 Australia vs India test series, Chopra was a commentator for 7 Network, and also commentated for Sony Ten 2.[13]

In January 2023, Chopra left Star Sports, and joined Viacom 18 network. He voiced Hindi commentary on Sports 18 and on the Jio Cinema app during the South African Twenty20 league, SA20.[2]

Other media

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Chopra's columns regularly appear in Mid-Day and on ESPNcricinfo.[14]

In 2009, Chopra released Beyond the Blues: A First-Class Season Like No Other, a diary of his domestic season in 2007-2008 published by HarperCollins. It received critical acclaim, and Suresh Menon of ESPNcricinfo wrote that it was "the best book written by an Indian Test cricketer".[15] In November 2011, his second book was published by HarperCollins, and was titled Out of the Blue, about Rajasthan's victory in the Ranji Trophy. He went on to write two more books; The Insider with ESPNcricinfo in 2015 and Numbers Do Lie with Impact Index in 2017.[16]

In May 2020, Chopra signed as a commentator with popular mobile cricket game World Cricket Championship commentate the upcoming WCC3 game.[17][18] Chopra was the first commentator to become a commentator on a digital game platform.[19]

Aakash Chopra has a YouTube channel where he uploads match reviews and previews.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Aakash Chopra". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 15 February 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Suresh Raina, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, and Aakash Chopra in Viacom18's Expert Panel for SA20". www.news18.com.
  3. ^ "The Insider: Decoding the craft of cricket by Aakash Chopra". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  4. ^ http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/27639.html ESPNcricinfo
  5. ^ Vasu, Anand (8 April 2004). "Yuvraj or Chopra? India's selectorial dilemma". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
  6. ^ "Chopra and Kohli stretch lead to 384".
  7. ^ "Mohammad Nissar Trophy at Delhi, Sep 15–18 2008".
  8. ^ Aakash Chopra to represent Rajasthan Archived 4 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Aakash Chopra Biography, Achievements, Career info, Records & Stats - Sportskeeda". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Aakash Chopra Profile - Cricket Player India | Stats, Records, Video". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  11. ^ "IPL 2023: Aakash Chopra No Longer A Part Of Disney Star, Will Do Commentary For Sports18 & JioCinema". kheltalk.com.
  12. ^ "Aakash Chopra reveals why he honed his craft in Hindi commentary, not English". circleofcricket.com.
  13. ^ ""Bangladesh are saying that it is not Diwali time but they have prepared for a whitewash" - Aakash Chopra". sportskeeda.com. 8 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra shares expert guidance for aspiring commentators". Mid-day Newspaper. 29 June 2021.
  15. ^ ESPNcricinfo review of Beyond the Blues
  16. ^ "Beyond the blues: a cricket season like no other". HarperCollins Publishers India. 2009.
  17. ^ Bureau, BW Online. "Commentator Aakash Chopra Joined World Cricket Championship". BW Disrupt. Retrieved 8 May 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  18. ^ Miller, George (27 April 2020). "Aakash Chopra joins online cricket with the world's No.1 cricket game, World Cricket Championship". European Gaming Industry News. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  19. ^ "With IPL suspended due to Pandemic, Aakash Chopra to commentate on digital matches". Hindustan Times. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  20. ^ Emily (4 February 2022). "Akash chopra income through youtube". Biography of celebrities- Buzzzfly. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022.
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