Published 17:55 IST, January 6th 2020
Aakash Chopra shuts down troll after naming Shahid Afridi as decade's top all-rounder
Aakash Chopra named Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Shahid Afridi and Jos Buttler as the best T20I batsman, bowler, allrounder and wicketkeeper of the decade.
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Former India batsman Aakash Chopra is a popular figure as a cricket pundit. As the year 2019 came to an end, many top cricketers tweeted their favourite team of their decade and amongst them was Chopra. He took to Twitter and shared his best XIs in all the three formats (ODI, Test and T20I) and also gave away awards to players in the three formats. On the New Year's Day, he raised eyebrows by naming former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi as the best all-rounder of the decade.
Aakash Chopra's Twitter banter with cricket fan over Shahid Afridi
#AakashVani Awards for the best in T20i in 2010s (decade)
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 1, 2020
Batsman— Kohli
Bowler— Malinga
All-Rounder—Afridi
Wicketkeeper—Buttler
What’s yours? ☺️
Aakash Chopra named Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Shahid Afridi and Jos Buttler as the best T20I batsman, bowler, all-rounder and wicketkeeper of the decade respectively. His thoughts though did not go down well with the fans as he received backlash over it. While fans agreed with him on his picks for batsman, bowler and wicketkeeper, his pick for the allrounder did not impress many. One of the fans said Aakash Chopra wanted to impress his Pakistani fans by doing so. Rather than giving a strong replying to the tweet, Aakash Chopra decided to shut down the troller with a subtle reply.
Explain us why u choose afridi....for impressing Pakistani fans?
— Subash reddy (@Subashr888) January 4, 2020
You obviously didn’t have a look at his T20 International record in 2010s. The decade. Do yourself a favour and check. Thank me later ☺️🤗 https://t.co/6T2hL9Zsp4
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 4, 2020
Shahid Afridi's international career
Shahid Afridi is regarded as one of the best all-rounders in the limited-overs format. His impressive stats in the last decade spoke volumes of his capability. The former Pakistan captain played 73 T20I matches from 2010-2018 and scored 949 runs at a strike rate of 151.59 with one half-century and picked 61 wickets at an economy of 6.96 with the best bowling figures of 4/14. Afridi is still active in cricket and plays for various T20 franchises all over the world.
Aakash Chopra names Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in his ODI team of the decade
Recently, Aakash Chopra named his ODI team of the decade in which he included India skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma. Apart from Kohli and Sharma, the other players to make Chopra's team of the decade were former South Africa star Hashim Amla, who chased down Kohli’s landmarks at the start of the decade and was one of the most elegant batsmen ever. He also named Virat Kohli's RCB teammate AB de Villiers, Ross Taylor, MS Dhoni, Shakib Al Hasan, Imran Tahir, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Starc.
17:55 IST, January 6th 2020