I have always had a lot of time for Aakash Chopra. While his stats on the Indian tour of Australia in 2004 may not seem anything to write home about, the fact is that his steadiness at the top of the order was the perfect foil for Virender Sehwag and allowed Sehwag the the chance to express himself. It was this complementary opening partnership that made a major contribution to India’s strong showing.
I thought he was very unlucky to be discarded, but since then he has carved himself out a niche as an articulate and insightful feature writer for Cricinfo and proved a class above the usual player turned pundit. I particularly enjoyed his latest piece.