Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra recently criticised the Australian media while revealing a behind-the-scene story from the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Team India, led by Virat Kohli, had scripted a roaring comeback in the bilateral assignment and became the first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia. Chopra, who was on commentary duty, shared an anecdote from the second match, which the hosts had won by 146 runs at Perth.
During a recent discussion on the 2 Sloggers YouTube channel, the 46-year-old accused the broadcasters of amplifying the stump mic when Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja engaged in a heated exchange on the field.
Aakash Chopra felt that the Australian media wanted to tarnish the reputation of the Indian team. Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja were hurling curse words at each other while fielding inside the 30-yard circle.
At that moment, Chopra was present in the commentary box. According to him, the broadcaster had cut the controversial clip and shared it with the media personnel.
“They (Australian media) used to release videos. They did it in front of me when Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja had a heated exchange with each other while standing in the 30-yard circle. The broadcasters amped up the stump mic as they were abusing each other,” Chopra recalled on the YouTube podcast, as quoted by CricTracker.
“They cut the clip and shared it with the press in front of me. After that, when we were talking off the field, I was like, ‘What are we actually trying to achieve because it’s nothing’,” the former India batter added.
Ricky Ponting was there in the commentary box at that moment. Aakash Chopra claimed that the former Australian captain condemned the event but changed his tune as soon as he got the mic.
“Ricky said they are ‘Making a mountain out of a molehill.’ The moment he went on air, he tore into the Indian team, and I was stunned that he had just said something else a few minutes back,” Chopra recalled.
India won the first Test of the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy by 31 runs while Australia levelled the series with victory at Perth. The visitors bounced back in the third game and took the lead. The fourth and final Test at Sydney ended in a draw.
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