Aakash Chopra recalls Sehwag’s cheeky remark to Steve Bucknor; Anil Chaudhary reflects on Kohli-Gambhir clash

Former India cricketers Aakash Chopra and Umesh Yadav, along with ex-umpire Anil Chaudhary, shared memorable on-field anecdotes on JioStar's Cheeky Singles, including Virender Sehwag's banter with Steve Bucknor, the Kohli-Gambhir confrontation and the debate over non-striker run-outs.

Hyderabad: JioStar expert Aakash Chopra recalled an incident from India’s tour of Australia when Virender Sehwag shared a light-hearted exchange with former umpire Steve Bucknor during a show ‘Cheeky Singles’ on Jio star.

“Whatever Sachin Tendulkar wanted to say, Viru (Virender Sehwag) would pass on as messages. He was standing next to Steve at square leg and asked, ‘Steve, how old are you?’ Steve said, ’52’ or ’53’, whatever it was. Viru then said, ‘Steve, you can’t hear, you can’t see, you should retire.’ So, I asked Viru, ‘Are you mad? He’ll give you out!’ He replied, ‘He’s giving Tendulkar wrong decisions anyway. If he’s going to keep giving wrong decisions, what’s the difference? At least let me speak my mind!'”

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JioStar expert Umesh Yadav recalled fun instances when he engaged with umpires after disagreeing with their decisions:

“Normally, when you’re playing and you feel the umpire is doing something intentionally, you also end up doing a few things intentionally, just to annoy the umpire! Sometimes, when you’re bowling and the batter says something to you unnecessarily, you’ll say, ‘Sir, can’t you see? Do you want to wear glasses? I hope fog hasn’t settled on them. I hope you didn’t fall asleep!’ So, you end up doing those cheeky kinds of things.”

Another JioStar expert and former umpire Anil Chaudhary recalled intervening during the Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir exchange in TATA IPL 2013.

“I knew something like that would happen because all of them from the North play with aggression. I have played local cricket too, and our players have always played like this. If they don’t play with that aggression, their performances won’t come out as well. The flavour of the game won’t be there if you put too many restrictions on the players. But there’s a limit, and it shouldn’t be crossed.”

On the debate around the run-out at non-striker’s end dismissal, Choudhary said:

“The dismissal is fair in cricket. The batter at the non-striker’s end is running so far ahead that the advantage he gets is that he has only a few more steps to cover to reach the other end, which is unfair. I think very soon, in a year or two, a rule will come in with a warning system, one warning, two warnings, and then a run penalty. Because it’s unfair. Many times, on the last ball, the non-striker starts running early, and the striker does the same. So what’s left for the bowler?”

On Virat Kohli, Choudhary said: “Actually, my advantage with Virat was that I had officiated his matches since childhood, so I have known him for a long time. He doesn’t have any malice. He reacts aggressively sometimes, but if you’re right, he’ll give you a thumbs up too. Between overs, he’ll come over and put a hand around your waist. But he is lively throughout. Players like him should be there, otherwise, the game will get boring.”