"I was convinced that we would miss Rohit Sharma at some stage in this series" - Aakash Chopra lauds KL Rahul's knock in ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test

Former India player Aakash Chopra has expressed hope that KL Rahul would deservedly be praised for his monk-like batting performances in the ongoing Test series against England. He highlighted that Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, to his surprise, have ensured that India haven't missed Rohit Sharma as an opener.

Rahul was dismissed for a 230-ball 90 runs in India's second innings of the fourth Test against England in Manchester on Sunday, July 27. His knock helped the visitors reach 425/4, thereby ensuring a draw after they had conceded a 311-run first-innings lead.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener noted that Rahul, who was unfortunate to miss a century, along with Jaiswal have ensured that the visitors haven't missed the retired Rohit at the top of the order.

"KL Rahul is a guy who has been criticized a lot. He has scored a lot of runs in this series. He has batted like a tapasvi. He was unfortunate. The ball came in and kept low. He missed out on his century, got out on 90. At some stage, I hope he will start getting the respect that he deserves because KL Rahul is playing extremely well," Chopra said (5:05). "I was convinced that we would miss Rohit Sharma at some stage in this series because his last series here was very good, but KL Rahul at one end, and Yashasvi at the other, mostly, haven't let us miss him. Outstanding from these two as well," he added.

KL Rahul struck eight fours in his 90-run knock before being caught plumb in front of the wickets by a Ben Stokes delivery that kept low. With 511 runs at an average of 63.88 in eight innings, the right-handed opener is the second-highest run-scorer in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

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"I got a lot of flak" - Aakash Chopra lauds Ravindra Jadeja's century in ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test

Ravindra Jadeja's unbeaten century ensured that the Manchester Test was drawn. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra praised Ravindra Jadeja for his consistent performances with the bat in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, highlighting that he was criticized when he had picked the Saurashtra player as the best Test all-rounder ahead of Ben Stokes.

"Jadeja has grown. I got a lot of flak when I didn't keep Ben Stokes as No. 1 among the best all-rounders in the last two years, but when I analyzed the numbers, Jaddu was the best. Even in this series, from the batting point of view, he scored four consecutive half-centuries and now this century," he said (8:05).

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Jadeja was right in not accepting a draw before scoring his century.

"It was good that you stood there and said you would leave after scoring a century. He didn't get a hundred in charity. He hasn't earned it because when he came to bat, you (England) felt a win was possible, but he didn't let it become possible. He got a life, but he ensured that this is going to be his best-ever Test series with the bat, and that has happened in England," Chopra observed.

Ravindra Jadeja scored an unbeaten 107 off 185 deliveries with the help of 13 fours and a six. He stitched an unbroken 203-run fifth-wicket partnership with Washington Sundar (101* off 206) to ensure the match was drawn.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer