'I couldn't do justice to that occasion' - Aakash Chopra picks Kumar Sangakkara's last Test as his worst moment as commentator

Aakash Chopra has taken up commentary since hanging his boots in international cricket. Rather he has done extremely well with the mic in his hand and has even garnered praise from the fans on social media for his superb Hindi commentary. However, being a commentator can be harsh at times with either the players or the fans might get offended with the views they express on-air.

Recently, Aakash Chopra had to face the heat for not including MS Dhoni in his probable India T20 squad for the World Cup. But as the analyst of the game, these people realise when they are at their best and worst while commentating. And Chopra prides in predicting the outcome of a delivery correctly even before it is bowled and also admits when he messed it up while at the job.

While speaking at the RK Show, the former India cricketer recalled the moment when he predicted that Shahbaz Nadeem will soon pick up a wicket and the left-arm spinner did it only three balls later. However, when asked about his worst moment in the commentary box, Aakash Chopra picked Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara‘s last Test in 2015.

I was not quite ready, says Aakash Chopra

It was certainly an emotional moment for Sri Lanka and cricket, as Sangakkara was walking away from the ground for one final time. Chopra happened to be at the hot seat during that time and he feels that he couldn’t do proper justice to that moment. “(Worst moment as commentator) Sangakkara’s last Test match. I was not prepared. So I was commentating. The match was at P Sara Oval.

“I happened to be the caller and I didn’t do justice to that occasion. It hit me hard that I was just found wanting. I was young, it was only my second or third season of commentary,” the 42-year-old. Interestingly, Aakash Chopra also said that he was left alone to commentate at that moment as Jonty Rhodes didn’t want to talk about the moment.

“I was left alone for whatever reason. There was nobody next to me. I think Jonty Rhodes was there and he didn’t want to talk. So I was left on my own and I just ran out of words, I ran out of thoughts. I just couldn’t encapsulate that feeling of him (Sangakkara) playing his last Test match in front of his home fans. I should’ve done better,” he added.

As for Sangakkara’s last Test, it was against India and Sri Lanka lost it by 278 runs. The man couldn’t make it memorable for himself scoring 32 and 18 in two innings.