In a remarkable disclosure, the ex-Indian batsman Aakash Chopra has revealed one of the most disgraceful incidents in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. Chopra not only revealed but also claimed that the now-defunct Deccan Chargers were very ungrateful to VVS Laxman and did not even respect him during his time with the team as per the IPL.
VVS Laxman was made the captain of the Deccan Chargers during the very first season of the IPL in 2008. However, after the team finished last on the points table, the management of Deccan decided to strip the legendary bat from the captaincy and to let the leadership of the team go to the legendary Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist for the 2009 season.
Aakash Chopra uncovers how the Deccan Chargers mistreated VVS Laxman unfairly in IPL 2008.
Chopra emphasized that the manner in which Laxman was dismissed as the Deccan Chargers captain illustrated how the franchise had terrible dealing with the Indian legend at that time.
Aakash Chopra mentioned in a Shubhankar Mishra podcast on his YouTube channel, “In my opinion, VVS Laxman was not treated well by the Deccan Chargers. That decision was not popular because Laxman has not become as famous as he deserves.”
The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batsman talked about the leadership changes in IPL history that shocked not only the players but also the fans. The cricket expert considered it one of the most daring decisions by the league to remove Sourav Ganguly from KKR’s captaincy.
Chopra commented, “I regard the most ruthless decision ever taken was KKR parting with Ganguly as captain. That was a precursor of things to come. KKR and Shreyas Iyer would also have been a tough call. It would have been hard to tell Rohit about it and to remove him from the captaincy.”
Aakash Chopra describes the treatment he and Sanjay Bangar got from KKR
He further disclosed a tale from his KKR association in the year 2009. He together with Sanjay Bangar formed part of the squad but were instructed to go back home in the middle of the season. Reflecting on the abrupt decision, Chopra remarked, “The management was of the opinion that considering the current team situation these two were not needed.”
The prior Indian inning player is of the opinion that a lot of other players would have had similar experiences which never got to see the light of day. It is worth mentioning that in the IPL 2009, he has only one appearance for the KRR and then he could never get the league’s playing opportunity again.
Furthermore, he drew a comparison to how high-profile Chris Gayle’s split with Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) was only because the West Indies star was frank about it in public. And so, he quoted, “That kind of thing must have happened to numerous players and you would be completely oblivious to it.”
Along with the above, the cricket analyst also expressed his opinion regarding the matter of the two-year suspension period of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) from the IPL. This decision was taken by the Supreme Court-appointed panel headed by former Chief Justice R M Lodha after it was determined that CSK’s Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra of RR had been engaged in betting activities during the 2013 season.
The panel imposed life bans on both Meiyappan and Kundra due to their involvement in the spot-fixing scandal which put a huge dent in the reputation of the IPL.
That led to the crucification of the IPL, and Chopra stated that it was not an easy decision to remove two champion teams from the IPL for two years, but he still considered it the right decision in terms of the tournament’s fairness.
He concluded with the statement, “Ethically, to suspend the two teams for two years was also the right decision. The banning of top teams in the tournament would have been very tough. But it was the right decision, though very hard.”
