Aakash Chopra Slams Liam Livingstone for His “On-Field” Attitude

Aggression is part and parcel of cricket but there is a fine line between being aggressive and being arrogant that should not be crossed. Liam Livingstone has found himself in the news and not for any good reason. Punjab Kings’ Liam Livingstone had a great game against Delhi Capitals when he scored 95 runs. The player was looking forward to picking up some runs in their last match of this season. However, a back-of-the-length delivery by Navdeep Saini sent Liam’s bails flying away.

What followed after the wicket was something that was unexpected from a player like Liam Livingstone. Liam Livingstone was caught giving a sarcastic smile after his wicket. Moreover, the all-rounder was nowhere seen on the field during the second half of the game. This attracted a lot of flak from cricket experts. This includes the likes of Aakash Chopra, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, and others.

Aakash Chopra criticizes Liam Livingstone’s reaction

Analyzing the reason behind another group stage exit of Punjab Kings, Aakash Chopra also spoke about the behavior of Liam Livingstone. “The shot Liam Livingstone played and then walked away laughing and didn’t come out to the field. If an Indian batter had done that, we would have talked about his attitude. It slightly defines how your season has been. Shikhar Dhawan’s start was very good but after that, he has gone down. Jitesh Sharma did well. Shahrukh Khan also did well. He scored runs when you gave him the chance to face more deliveries this time,” Aakash Chopra said.

In a different discussion after the game, former player, Yusuf Pathan expressed his displeasure over the obnoxious reaction of Liam Livingstone. “If we were coach, captain, or mentor of Punjab Kings and you laugh after getting out to that sort of a shot then we will never pick you (to play in IPL) again,” he said. The Punjab all-rounder has had a decent year with the bat irrespective of the team’s standing in the competition. In nine matches, he has scored 279 runs at an average of 34.88 and a strike rate of 163.16, with two fifties.