Former Indian national cricket team opening batsman Aakash Chopra has slammed Harry Brook for his comments after the Kolkata T20I where he blamed the smog for his failure with the bat.
Aakash Chopra also took a sly dig at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for failing Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone in the second T20I against the Indian national cricket team.
Also read: Tilak Varma reveals why he gave Jofri Archer the ‘belt treatment’ in IND vs ENG 2nd T20I
Salt came out and then Liam came out, and again I was reminded of RCB – Aakash Chopra
England superstars Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone have bought Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs 11.50 crore and Rs 8.75 crore respectively in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction.
Salt failed in the first two T20Is against India, posting scores of 0 and 4, while Livingstone posted scores of 0 and 13 and picked just one wicket with the ball.
Speaking on his YouTube channel after the match, Aakash Chopra stated that the struggles of Salt and Livingstone reminded him again of RCB and their form will be a major concern for the franchise.
“Washi (Washington Sundar) took a wicket with his first ball. The bucket that (Ben) Duckett has here seems to have all the holes. Four runs in the first over and three in the second. Arshdeep (Singh) dismisses Salt either way Salt is out , and then Liam walked out and I was reminded of RCB again,” he said.
The ball was visible this time but still hit his stumps – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra further shifted the focus to Harry Brook and blasted him for his ‘smog’ comments. The cricketer-turned-commentator criticized Brook, who scored 17 and 13 runs in the first two T20Is, saying he failed to read the delivery even when the ball was quite visible in smog-free Chennai.
“What AQI excuse are you giving, the English should be ashamed of themselves. Harry Brook said after the last game that he couldn’t see the ball because of the smog. The ball was visible this time but it still hit his stumps. It was a short ball; you played front foot and it hit your stumps. You can’t read the ball from the hand,” he remarked.
However, Chopra was not impressed with the batting selection of Ben Duckett and Phil Salt in the Chennai T20I and hit out at the England openers. Aakash Chopra stated:
“Duckett played a reverse shot off the first ball. What are you doing? You might be playing Washi for the first time in your life. Phil Salt seemed to be playing well. It was a short ball and he could have hit it to third man where the fielder was, but he dragged him to his feet and was caught in the deep.”
Buttler continued to fight alone. How long will the poor guy fight? – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra further praised England captain Jos Buttler for leading his side from the opener with a fighting knock of 45 runs. The former India opener was also impressed by Brydon Carse’s all-round heroics as he scored 31 runs and took three wickets.
“Buttler kept fighting on his own. How long will the poor guy fight? And he was dismissed identically (similar to the last match). He went out for extra bounce. That kept telling us that the pitch was good for batting. Liam Livingstone, once again , and he succumbed to the extra bounce,” said Aakash Chopra.
England National Cricket Team lost the thrilling second T20I match against Indian National Cricket Team by 2 wickets to lose 0-2 in the series and the third T20I will be their encounter in Rajkot.
