'I get paid for doing something else now' - Aakash Chopra responds after Jimmy Neesham takes a dig at his T20 stats

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) lost their third game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season a couple of days ago. Following this loss, cricket experts including Aakash Chopra criticised the tactics from the team and he also questioned Jimmy Neesham’s role stating that he isn’t a match-winner at all. Responding to the criticism, Neesham then, on Saturday took a dig at Chopra’s T20 stats saying even those numbers are not match-winning.

Neesham has so far played a couple of matches in the ongoing IPL edition and is yet to stamp his authority. Against Mumbai Indians (MI), he was taken apart for 52 runs in his four-over spell. When it came to chasing 192, the Kiwi all-rounder got out early leaving the team in a hole.

After facing the criticism, Neesham had pointed out Aakash Chopra’s stats in the shortest format of the game which doesn’t look good. He played 21 T20 matches in his career scoring 334 runs at a strike-rate of 91.25 and average of 18.55. As far as the IPL is concerned, he has mustered only 53 runs in six innings at an average of 8.8 and a strike-rate of 74.6.

Aakash Chopra’s response

Aakash Chopra came across Jimmy Neesham’s tweet very quickly and responded to it stating that he isn’t picked in any team anymore due to his poor T20 record. He also wrote that he is getting paid for something else now and also wittily said that he is happy to know that Neesham doesn’t have a problem with his opinion.

“Correct my friend. That’s why nobody picks me anymore. I get paid for doing something else. I’m glad that you don’t have an issue with my observations but with my cricket stats. Go well for the rest of the #IPL,” the tweet read.

Here’s the tweet:

Jimmy Neesham is known for his sense of humour on social media and the banter between him and Aakash Chopra might go on for sometime now with KXIP only playing its next game on Sunday. Moreover, Neesham might also get dropped from the XI after his not so impressive show in the two matches he has played.