Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra feels comfortable in his new skin — as a commentator and an author. In a chat, he speaks about how he likes to give it back to uncouth trolls on Twitter and about his new book.
“I like to name and shame at times,” he smiles. “I like to be polite, but you do need to give it to them from time to time. These nameless, faceless social media characters can hit below the belt or be abusive.”
Not just the trolls, Aakash was recently sucked into controversial topics with England cricketer Moeen Ali, as well as prodigal former Indian bowler, S. Sreesanth. In both cases, especially with Moeen, who questioned Aakash’s statistics as a cricketer himself, the former cricketer stood his ground, humble till the last minute. Quiz him about his Mr. Nice Guy ways and Aakash instantly shoots back. “There’s no personal vendetta to what I say. People can ask me how much cricket I’ve played, but I’ve heard that many times,” he explains, referring to Moeen’s jibe at Aakash’s statistics, when the commentator pointed out flaws in his technique. “A doctor’s biology teacher never became a doctor, but you still go to him to learn, don’t you?” he quips.
Aakash is currently on a high, enjoying the positive reviews coming his way for his latest book, Numbers Do Lie, a collection of cricketing stories. Speaking about the book, he says, “Generally, numbers don’t lie,” Aakash says. “Numbers are quantifiable, and can tell you a lot of things. However, if you don’t look at them properly, they’re not telling you the entire story, therefore lying. We’re basically trying to see how individual numbers fit into a team context.”
“Think about this,” he tosses a question, “Who do you think has had a bigger impact as an Indian test batsman — Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid? Numbers fail you here, and they both have phenomenal ones.” Despite much prodding, Aakash doesn’t reveal who comes out tops here. “Read the book!” he says, cheekily.
