Jimmy Neesham Roasts Aakash Chopra After Latter Questions His Place In KXIP Playing Eleven

Kings XI Punjab star Jimmy Neesham has taken a sly dig at Aakash Chopra after the latter questioned the New Zealand allrounder’s place in the franchise’s playing eleven.

Blaming the team-selection for KXIP’s defeat against Mumbai Indians, Aakash Chopra said KXIP are persisting with New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham who neither bowls in the powerplay. He went on to target his batting too, saying that Jimmy Neesham doesn’t even bat at top four.

“They play Neesham, an overseas fast bowler, who neither bowls in the powerplay nor in the death overs. He is neither a great finisher nor a big batsman who bats in the top four or five. So why is Kings XI Punjab playing him? You are playing a player who is not really a match-winner,” Aakash Chopra recently said on his YouTube channel.

Playing in the IPL for the first time since 2014, Jimmy Neesham is yet to make a notable contribution. In three games so far, he has managed to pick up only one wicket while scoring seven runs in the only innings he has batted in.

Jimmy Neesham’s reply:

Jimmy Neesham, on Saturday, took to Twitter to take a dig at Aakash Chopra’s own T20 record following the criticism from the former India captain. The New Zealand star, who helped his side make it to the final of the World Cup last year, dug up Aakash Chopra’s T20 stats and tweeted:

Averaging 18.5 striking at 90 doesn’t win many matches either ???? https://t.co/qNmotRL0WT

— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) October 3, 2020

As far as Aakash Chopra’s T20 career is concerned, he played 21 games and managed to score 334 runs at an average of less than 19 and a strike-rate of just over 90. He, however, has a good record in first-class cricket, having scored more than 10,000 runs with the help of 29 centuries.

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