'Players used to consult numerologists, but Sehwag would say, ‘Forget this, I’ll play without a jersey number' - Aakash Chopra on player superstitions

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra recently revealed a humorous tale from his U19 cricket days. He spoke about a superstitious story revolving around a lucky T-shirt which he would wear while playing. He remarked how that T-shirt always helped him score runs whenever he wore it

“When I was a kid, the very first superstition I had was about a T-shirt. I scored runs wearing that T-shirt and even got selected for India U19. Back then, you had to wear your own T-shirt and play. During our India U19 tour to Sri Lanka, I scored runs there as well. But once you play for India U19, you have to wear the official jersey," shared Chopra while speaking on JioHotstar's 'Cheeky Singles'. 

Chopra also disclosed the moment after which he let go of the T-shirt. He also noted how Virender Sehwag was different from the rest of the players for not believing in any such myths.

"If you wear your own T-shirt, someone will scold you. Anshuman Gaekwad was our coach at that time. I thought, forget it, I’ll wear my own T-shirt, but I taped the brand logo. That day, I made a few runs again. But when the tour ended, I realised the T-shirt was wearing out. That’s when I decided to get ahead of the T-shirt and work on my game instead,” he added. 

“Sometimes, someone would start believing in a lucky wristband, even the colour of the wristband mattered. Then, there were players who would believe in their jersey number. If the number they wanted was already taken, they’d go to a numerologist for advice. And then, there was someone like Virender Sehwag, who’d say, ‘Forget all this, I’ll play without the number’,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Only when India is bowling, I tend to say something: Chopra

The 47-year-old also explained why he tends to avoid making predictions during India’s matches, since he is often targeted by the fans if any of his negative predictions come true.

"Curses are of different levels. Sometimes, people troll me because I say, ‘There might be a wicket here,’ and then a wicket falls, and you start getting messages like, kaali zubaan (black tongue which is believed to jinx events) or panauti (bringer of misfortune). That’s why for India matches, I do not predict anything. Only when India is bowling, I tend to say something. But otherwise, no chance. No matter how much you want to say, even if there is something inside that is telling me to say, I will not," noted Chopra.

Although Chopra played only 10 Tests for India, he ended up as one of India's domestic veterans, with a whopping 10839 runs at an average of 45.35 in 162 matches.