Date:26/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/26/stories/2008022656051800.htm

Sport - Cricket

Season of reckoning for Aakash

Special Correspondent

He aggregates 1339 runs this year with five centuries, at an average of 60 plus

— FILE Photo

Aakash Chopra.

NEW DELHI: For Delhi and Aakash Chopra, it has been a season of reckoning. A Ranji Trophy triumph has put Delhi cricket in the perspective with Chopra showing the way by scoring with a flourish that marked his first season.

On the eve of the North Zone one-day league, the Delhi coach, Vijay Dahiya, was confident. “It is different from Ranji Trophy but then we have to do what we have been doing this season. Play good cricket.”

Good cricket is precisely what Chopra has produced in his pursuit to regain a Test berth. “I have been telling myself to just enjoy. It is the sheer joy of making runs that has kept me going. I have decided not to put pressure on myself by brooding about failures. Cricket is not about brooding under pressure.”

When Chopra made his debut ten years ago, he made a huge impression with his strokeplay. “This boy has tremendous spark,” Bishan Singh Bedi had remarked. Chopra made a steady progress, earned an India cap, and lost his place in 2004 despite some gutsy show. “I worked too hard on my comeback,” confessed Chopra.

It was only when he decided to enjoy his batting that Chopra found himself among the runs. His aggregate this year has been 1339 runs with five centuries, including three double hundreds, at an average of 60 plus. “A healthy strike rate too,” he reminds with a smile.

“It has been a fabulous season,” he added. Chopra began with a double century against South Africa ‘A’ and that set the tone. The striking feature of that knock was four sixes. “Never hit four sixes in an innings,” he revealed. For a batsman accused of being over-defensive, it was a refreshing way of reminding his detractors that he could play his shots too.

“It was a matter of confidence. I was too confused earlier when wanting to come back but then I decided to be patient, wait for the bad deliveries. I have enjoyed batting more than ever because I decided not to try harder. Just play my natural game.”

The season taught him a lesson. “Don’t lose the joy factor in whatever you do.” He also gained by speaking to stalwarts like Rahul Dravid and Michael Atherton. “Prepare to get out cheaply when opening. You are bound to get a good delivery early on,” advised Dravid. “Don’t get caught in the technique trap. Technique is important but not to the extent that it begins to affect your game,” was Atherton’s gem.

Chopra remembered those words as Delhi prepares to take on Jammu and Kashmir at the Ferozeshah Kotla here in its opening match of the North Zone league. With Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia and Shikhar Dhawan in form, Delhi can look forward to ride on the shoulders of the rejuvenated Chopra, close to getting a Test recall this season.