"When they are talking about each other, they are very diplomatic" - Aakash Chopra highlights the hypocrisy after 2025-26 Ashes 4th Test

Former India player Aakash Chopra has highlighted the English media and players' hypocrisy after the fourth 2025-26 Ashes Test. He pointed out that England and Australia are diplomatic when they criticize each other.

England beat Australia by four wickets in the fourth Test in Melbourne on Saturday, December 27. The match ended within two days, with England's fourth-innings score of 178/6 being the highest total in the game.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener lambasted the Western media and players for their hypocrisy.

"I am talking about the hypocrisy. The match ended in two days in Perth. The ICC rates it a very good surface. The entire world says the pitch was good and that the batters' technique has become bad. Then the same thing happened in Melbourne. The match ended in two days. There also they say the pitch was good, there was slightly more help, but the batters' technique has become bad," Chopra said. (2:50) "Ben Stokes spoke very diplomatically because these guys, when they are talking about each other, they are very diplomatic. He said that it was favoring one skill more. If it had been a rank turner in India, they would have said it's like the death of Test cricket, and what sort of pitch it is? There also it is helping the spin-bowling skill a little more," he added.

At the post-match presentation, Ben Stokes stated that the Melbourne pitch heavily favored the bowlers. However, the England captain later told the media that it would have been 'hell-on' had a similar pitch been prepared elsewhere.

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"How is that right?" - Aakash Chopra on a single over of spin not being bowled in 2025-26 Ashes 4th Test

Australia didn't field a frontline seamer in their playing XI in the Boxing Day Test. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra wondered why there isn't an uproar about spin not being used at all in the Melbourne Test.

"Not even a single over of spin was bowled on the Melbourne ground, and the match got over. How is that right? If a Test match happens in India or in subcontinental conditions and a single over of fast bowling is not bowled, there is an uproar, but that's not the case here," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that British media had termed it 'death of Test cricket' when the Ahmedabad Test between India and England had ended in two days.

"When the match ended in Ahmedabad in two days, a BBC report said, 'death of Test cricket.' Here they say it's actually not bad, that two-day Test matches are also great. Hypocrisy much. Something there and something else here," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra claimed that it's a story of white supremacy and that they watch each other's back. He added that if something similar happens in Asia or India, they go after the host nation.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer