"Us se panga nahi lene ka hai" - Aakash Chopra reveals name of legendary batter India were afraid to sledge

Aakash Chopra recently revealed that Team India were afraid to sledge West Indies' batting legend Brian Lara. He disclosed that during a tour of West Indies, India discussed in their team meeting that they won't try to sledge the swashbuckling batter.

The former opening batter made the remarks during the JioHotstar show, 'Cheeky Singles'. He mentioned that the Indian players pre-planned that nobody would bother Lara, as it could prove to be costly for them.

The cricketer-turned-commentator said:

"The sledging was not pre-planned, but I know of an incident where the plan was that you would not sledge him, us se panga nahi lene ka hai (We would not mess with him). It was during India's tour of the West Indies, and Brian Lara had that aura.

"It was decided in that Indian team meeting that we would leave him alone, nobody would say anything to him, and he would get out by himself when it had to happen. But if you rile him up, then sawaari apne samaan ki khud hi zimmedar hai (You are responsible for your actions)."

Meanwhile, Lara had a decent Test record against India. He amassed 1,002 runs across 29 innings at an average of 34.55. In ODIs, the southpaw averaged 32.62 against the Men in Blue, scoring 1,142 runs from 40 innings.

While Chopra suggested that India didn't want to provoke Lara, he also shared details of an incident where he was sledged by a hard-hitting left-handed batter.

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"I hadn't said anything; it was totally unprovoked" - Aakash Chopra reveals being sledged by an Australian great

During the same show, Aakash Chopra stated that he was once sledged by former Australia opener Matthew Hayden. Interestingly, Chopra wasn't even in India's playing XI when the incident took place.

Narrating the story, Chopra recalled that Hayden had a go at him when he came to the field as a substitute for a few overs. The 47-year-old said:

"I was once sledged by Matthew Hayden. I was not even playing that match, and I was like, 'Mujhe kyu kar raha hai bhai?' (Why was he doing that to me?) I was there just to field. I thought, it's your pitch, you just bat. I was supposed to field for a while and leave. Why did he sledge me? But that was an Australian thing to do. I hadn't said anything; it was totally unprovoked."

It is worth mentioning that Hayden enjoyed a dominant run against India during his career. He aggregated 1,888 runs across 35 Test innings at a brilliant average of 59.00. The batter did well against the opposition in ODIs as well, scoring 1,450 runs in 28 innings at an average of 53.70.