"Definitely the best overseas opener who has visited Indian shores in the past 7-8 years" - Aakash Chopra on Usman Khawaja
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra lauded Australian opener Usman Khawaja for his marathon knock of 180 against India in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad. The southpaw faced a staggering 422 balls and made the opposition bowlers look absolutely helpless.
There was a lot of talk about Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne being big threats for India with the bat. However, Khawaja proved just how underrated he is, with runs in the UAE, Pakistan, and now even in India.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra ranked Usman Khawaja as the greatest visiting opener of the past few years and said:
"Usman Khawaja was simply brilliant for his 180. No matter how flat the pitch is, it's never easy to bat for so long as it requires a lot of concentration. His wicket itself was a lapse in concentration, but he is definitely the best overseas opener who has visited Indian shores in the past 7-8 years."
Aakash Chopra on Cameron Green's knock
Aakash Chopra also hailed Cameron Green for scoring his maiden Test hundred in Ahmedabad on Friday (March 10). He walked out to bat when Australia were just 170/4 and needed a move-on with the scoring rate.
Green provided just that and arguably played an innings that has taken the game further away from India. Chopra shed light on how the hosts didn't try enough out-of-the-box tactics to get rid of Green and stated:
"Cameron Green played a special knock and will be one of the best all-rounders the world has ever seen. The one thing that I was disappointed to see was that we didn't even try the short ball trap to Green."
"You could have had fielders on leg side and then from around the wicket could have tried to pin him and induce a false shot. You get a lot of rest as a fast bowler when you have three spinners in the line-up so it could have been tried."
India are still a massive 444 runs behind in their first innings. But with good conditions to bat on Day 3, the hosts will want their top order to fire all cylinders and score big.