Though I was in the dressing room, I wasn’t there for the talk. I was too young, to be honest, to even try to get into it “said Chopra.
The most memorable moment from the 2004 Test match between Pakistan and India took place at Multan, where Virender Sehwag, a former player for India, produced the first triple century in Test match history with a massive knock of 309 runs. But there was another instance that had the fans riveted.
Top batsman Sachin Tendulkar was batting on a score of 194 runs as the visitors batted on a massive 675/5. But at this precise moment, captain Rahul Dravid decided to halt the innings, denying Tendulkar a double century by six runs.
That was the first occasion, in the words of veteran Indian player Aakash Chopra, that he saw Tendulkar visibly disappointed. Chopra claimed that, due to his youth, he was present in the dressing room but did not take part in the talk.
Though I wasn’t present during that conversation, I was in the dressing room. Since I was too young, to be completely honest, I didn’t even try to get into it. Yes, that day Paaji wasn’t feeling well. He looked unhappy to me, I believe for the first time. He never lost his temper, and although on that particular day, he didn’t quite lose it, he was displeased. Chopra informed Sloggers on YouTube channel 2 that something wasn’t right.
Chopra further disclosed that the squad as a whole decided to declare the innings, not only Dravid. He added that Sourav Ganguly was in the dressing room and contributed to the decision even though he wasn’t involved in the match.
While Dada (Ganguly) was there in the dressing room that day, Rahul did make a call. Although he wasn’t participating in the game, he was in the dressing room and undoubtedly participated in the think tank. Chopra claimed that it wasn’t just the captain’s choice.
Rahul did acknowledge after the game that he wouldn’t have made the declaration if he had known the match would finish in four days.
