"We opened together, won the Ranji Trophy, but we were not talking" - Former India batter's massive revelation on Shikhar Dhawan

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra revealed that there were a few domestic seasons where he did not talk to his opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan. The cricketer-turned-commentator stated that the two scored a lot of runs together for Delhi, but were not on talking terms.

Chopra admitted that he now finds that behavior childish. He clarified that Dhawan and he have let bygones be bygones, and all was well between them now. His revelation came on journalist Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel.

The 48-year-old said:

"You are a competitor, so there might be a time when you don't talk to each other or are not the best of friends. I can tell about myself that there was a time when Shikhar and I didn't speak to each other for a few seasons. We opened together, scored a lot of runs, won the Ranji Trophy, but we were not talking. Today, when we sit together, hours will pass. It seems so insignificant and childish."

Notably, Chopra and Dhawan were part of Delhi's Ranji Trophy-winning squad in 2007-8. Chopra was the team's highest run-getter of the season, with 783 runs across 16 innings. Dhawan, on the other hand, finished with 570 runs from 15 innings.

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"It should be condemned" - Aakash Chopra's take on toxic fan culture in Indian cricket

Aakash Chopra also spoke about how a few Indian cricket fans have spread toxicity on social media. He slammed the fans for targeting players just to make their favorite star bigger.

He emphasized that the players do not have any animosity among themselves, despite the fan wars. Chopra remarked by giving the examples of former India captains, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma:

"It is very, very toxic, and it should be condemned. If you are not condemning that, you are doing wrong because it is not going to benefit anyone. You cannot make your line big by making someone else's line smaller. The players do not feel that way. If you ever see Dhoni with Rohit or Kohli, you won't even realize that their fans abuse each other. They put their arms around each other's shoulders and talk.

"Dhoni himself handed the captaincy to Kohli when he felt he was ready. And, if you recall, whenever someone asked Kohli who was the most talented player according to him, he would say he hadn't seen anybody more talented than Rohit," he added.

Meanwhile, Kohli and Rohit are likely to be seen in action during India's upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, beginning November 30 in Ranchi.