Former Indian national cricket team opening batsman Aakash Chopra recently spoke about the scenes in the dressing room and the reaction of the God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, after the infamous statement by the Indian team when the latter was batting at 194*.
The year 2004 was when India toured Pakistan for a five-match ODI series and a three-match Test series, which they won by 3-2 and 2-1. It was the first Test match at the Multan Cricket Stadium, which was played from 28 March to 1 April, that became the most talked about match of that tour.
In the first Test, Virender Sehwag played an iconic innings of 309 runs and became the first Indian to score a triple century in Tests. He scored his runs in 375 balls and hit 39 fours and 6 sixes while batting at a strike rate of 82.40.
However, there was another incident in the same Test that fans still remember. As Sachin Tendulkar was closing in on his double ton, stand-in captain Rahul Dravid decided to declare the innings over.
When Dravid called his players back, Sachin Tendulkar was batting at 194* runs, and this decision baffled many, leading to criticism of Dravid. Notably, India declared at 675/5d and wanted to take advantage of a tired Pakistani team and a deteriorating pitch.
Two decades after that incident, Aakash Chopra, who played that match and scored 42 runs while opening the batting, opened up on the matter. Aakash Chopra said that Tendulkar was visibly unhappy with the decision but did not lose his temper.
“I was in the dressing room, but I wasn’t a part of that conversation. To be honest, I didn’t even try to get into it because I was too young. Yes, Paaji was not happy that day. I think I saw him unhappy for the first time. I never saw him lose his temper, and he didn’t exactly lose his temper that day, but he was visibly unhappy. Something wasn’t right,” Aakash Chopra told YouTube channel 2 Sloggers.
Rahul called, but Dada was also in the dressing room that day – Aakash Chopra
While talking about the dressing room scenes, Aakash Chopra revealed that Sourav Ganguly was also present there and was involved in the decision making.
“Rahul called, but Dada (Ganguly) was also in the dressing room that day. He was not playing that match, but he was in the dressing room and I am sure he was part of the think tank. It was not just the captain’s decision,” Aakash Chopra said.
“After the match, Rahul said that he would not have taken any position if he knew that the match would be over in four days. With Rahul, you may agree or disagree at the height of the match, but you don’t doubt his decision. You know that even if he was in a similar situation, he would have taken the same decision,” Aakash Chopra added.
Meanwhile, India bowled out Pakistan for 407 in the first innings of the match to impose a follow-on and then bowled them out again for 216 to secure a win by an innings and 52 runs.
