Aakash Chopra's nearing 30, not an age at which someone makes a comeback to an India A team. The selectors believe there is no hard and fast rule with regard to age-limit for India A teams.
Reveals how a chat with Mike Atherton helped him overcome the fear of under-performance
MUMBAI: Remember Aakash Chopra?
Well, he belongs to a fast dying breed of classical openers. Highly effective in taking the lacquer and shine off the new ball - a boon for batsmen down the order - and an accumulator of runs. Against Australia, away and at home, against New Zealand and Pakistan, he followed the brief given to him to the tee. With Virender Sehwag blazing away at the other end, Chopra stuck to his task of taking the nip off the new ball.
But a total of 24 runs in his last six Test innings saw the axe falling on Chopra. He hasn't played a Test since October 2004, nor was he part of the India A squad. So when Chopra's name featured in the A team that will play two four-day games against South Africa A, it was the chance he awaited.
"Usually when a player is dropped from the National team he finds a place in the India A squad. But here I was out of the senior squad but not part of the India A team. It means a lot to me. It took a long time coming," Chopra told DNA from Staffordshire on Wednesday.
Chopra's nearing 30, not an age at which someone makes a comeback to an India A team. The selectors believe there is no hard and fast rule with regard to age-limit for India A teams. Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said, "We want to see Aakash Chopra play. We want to see what he can do." Logically, with Wasim Jaffer injured, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik and Robin Uthappa on national duty, Chopra's inclusion was on the cards.
However, Vengsarkar revealed that Chopra is not being considered just to fill up the gaps. "With tough games against Pakistan and Australia ahead, we wanted to look at another opening option. South Africa A is a good side and we want to see how Chopra does," he said.
In Staffordshire, these words were heartening for Chopra. It has not been easy for Chopra. After being dropped, he wanted to score big runs and make a mark. Chopra went into a shell, trying to cut down on shots he perceived were risky. "I was too keen to score runs. I didn't want to make any mistakes. It played on my mind," he said.
So, when he bumped into former English opener and skipper Michael Atherton, Chopra picked his mind. "He convinced me not to worry about getting out. He told me to enjoy the game and not worry too much about my performance. It helped. Last season was much better," Chopra said.
Chopra wants to be consistent now. The India A ticket does not ensure him a place in the Test squad. He has only four innings or less to make the runs. "I hope to perform even when the domestic season begins. I need to string together some good scores. Then probably I can think about the next level."
India A squad: Mohd Kaif (captain UP), Aakash Chopra (Del), Cheteshwar Pujara (Sau), Manoj Tiwary (Ben), S Badrinath (TN), S Raina (UP), Parthiv Patel (wk, Guj), Ishant Sharma (Del), Yo Mahesh (TN), Pankaj Singh (Raj), Pragyan Ojha (Hyd, Arjun Yadav (Hyd), Ashraf Makda (Guj), Amit Mishra (Har) Coach: Chandrakant Pandit.
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