Australian media act as their 12th man, claims India are ‘chickening out’ of the Gabba Test: Aakash Chopra

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra reckons that the Australian media act as the 12th man for their cricket team. For the time being, the series has been marred with a mini-controversy after Team India, reportedly, have shown their reluctance to travel to Brisbane for the fourth Test, the reason being the Queensland government’s tough quarantine protocols.

Chopra said that the media is trying to create an atmosphere, showing that the Indian team don’t wish to go to Brisbane, not because of quarantining, but due to the nature of the surface at The Gabba. To cite the media’s role, Chopra talked about how they tried to get into the visitors’ nerves after India lost the Perth Test.

This is very typical of Australian media and this is how they behave: Aakash Chopra

“Now a similar atmosphere is being built at Gabba that this Indian team cannot win at Gabba. I feel that Indian team is better placed if the match takes place at Gabba because if we do a man-to-man marking, and if Steve Smith does not score runs, the weight is tilted towards the Indian side,” Chopra told on YouTube.

“It is the Australian team who should think about playing on a different surface, on a quicker pitch. But the atmosphere has been created that the Indian team does not want to play in Gabba and they are ‘chickening out’ because they are scared of the grass on Gabba surface,” he stated.

“This is very typical of Australian media and this is how they behave. They became the 12th man. It happened during the last tour as well. They would leak a small video clip of how Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma are arguing, and the stump mic caught some abusive exchanges between the players,” Chopra added.

Recently, it’s been learned that the BCCI has written to CA head Earl Eddings, asking for relaxation in the quarantine protocols before the Brisbane Test. The BCCI has also attached the Memorandum of Understanding, signed by the two teams before the start of the series. The fourth Test is scheduled to get underway on January 15 with the Sydney Test currently taking place.