Ravinder Singh Bopara (born 4 May 1985) is an English cricketer who plays for Northamptonshire and has represented the England national team. Originally a top-order batsman, his developing medium pace bowling has made him a batting all rounder in the one day game. Bopara has also played for Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League, Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League, and Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh Premier League. Bopara was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.
Bopara was first called up to the England One Day International team in 2007, before a difficult Test debut in Sri Lanka saw him dropped in early 2008 after a string of three ducks. He regained his place for a Test against the West Indies in the winter of 2008–09; on his return to the team, Bopara became the fifth batsman to score three consecutive Test centuries for England. Despite this success, during the 2009 Ashes Bopara again struggled and was dropped for the final Test of the series. At the start of the 2016 season he took over the captaincy of the Essex one day team.
Early days He was born into an immigrant Indian Punjabi Sikh family, educated at Brampton Manor School, East Ham and Barking Abbey School, Bopara attended Frenford Clubs and represented Essex Boys and Girls Clubs in their representative U14 cricket team. Bopara made his first-class debut for Essex in May 2002. In 2003 and 2004, he played several matches for England U-19s, including in the 2004 U-19 Cricket World Cup.
In the 2005 season, he scored 880 first-class runs, including his first first-class century. He also hit 135 in a non-first-class match against the touring Australians, putting on 270 for the second wicket with Alastair Cook,This article from ESPNcricinfo gives Bopara's score as 14, but the scorecard from ESPNcricinfo and the scorecard from CricketArchive both say 135. and in 2006 he was selected for England A in their March tour of the West Indies, as well as their matches against the touring Sri Lankans and Pakistanis in the summer of that year. In July, he was selected in England's 30-man provisional squad for the 2006 Champions Trophy.
International career 2007 World Cup In January 2007 Kevin Pietersen sustained a rib injury in England's first One Day International against Australia, keeping him out of the remainder of the series. Bopara was called up as his replacement, and made his ODI debut on 2 February. Later that month, he was named in the England squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup,Bopara wins place ahead of Loye, ESPNcricinfo, 14 February 2007. and he played his second ODI in England's second match of that tournament. In England's match against Sri Lanka, Bopara was named man of the match for his 52 off 53 balls, which brought England to within three runs of victory from a seemingly hopeless position.Scorecard from ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 April 2007.Match report from the BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2007. The partnership for the seventh wicket was an English World Cup record and was the second record partnership made by Bopara in the tournament, following his record fifth wicket partnership with Paul Collingwood against Canada.World Cup Partnership Records for England from ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
2007 India and Sri Lanka In the first three games of the limited overs series against India Bopara was ineffectual, not batting in the first game and then making just 27 runs in the next two games combined. On 30 August, in the fourth match of huge series, he featured in a prominent tail end partnership, this time with Stuart Broad as the pair added an unbeaten 99 for the 8th wicket to defeat India at Old Trafford. Bopara finished 43 not out. He could not continue his good form, making just 11 in the next match.
He made his Test debut in the tour to Sri Lanka in December 2007 but had a poor series, scoring only 42 runs in five innings including three ducks, and taking only one wicket at an average of 81. One BBC commentator described him as "well out of his depth at Test level",England series rankings from the BBC Test Match Special blog. Retrieved 23 December 2007. and Bopara was subsequently selected in the ODI squad but not the Test squad for the tour to New Zealand in early 2008.Prior dropped as Ambrose gets his chance from ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 January 2008. However, he returned to the Test squad for the fourth Test against South Africa in August 2008, following a good season for Essex in the County Championship.Bopara replaces Vaughan in squad from BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
On 4 June 2008, Bopara recorded his highest List A score in the quarter-finals of the Friends Provident Trophy. He scored an unbeaten 201 runs off 138 balls, including 18 fours and 10 sixes.Cricket Scorecard from BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 June 2008. Bopara's score was just the eighth instance of a double hundred in the history of List A cricket and the highest for six years. On 9 September 2008 Bopara was named in England's 15-man squad for the inaugural Stanford Super Series in Antigua. There, England took on the Middlesex Crusaders and Trinidad and Tobago before facing the Stanford All-Stars on 1 November. The winning players in that match would have earned $1million each, with a further $1million being shared between the four players left out of the team. This never came to fruition, however, as England fell to a heavy defeat in the final. The same day, Bopara was also handed an Increment Contract by the ECB.
2008 New Zealand, South Africa and India Bopara made just three in the first ODI in New Zealand. He made 23 in the next match, but did not bowl in either matches. In the return series in England, Bopara got off to a slow start, making scores of 10 and 27 in his first two matches. However, in the fourth match of the series he made 58 although it wasn't enough to prevent a narrow defeat for England. He made 30 in the final match of the series, leaving him with over 100 runs in the matches he played in.
He played in the first ODI against South Africa but was not required to bat, instead just bowling two overs and conceding 11 runs. England won the match by 20 runs.
He made 54 not out in the first ODI against India as he continued to consolidate himself in the ODI team. In the third match he made 60, although England lost the game by 16 runs. In the final match of the series he took figures of 1–42 as well as contributing 24 runs with the bat, although England again lost, this time by six wickets.
2009 T20 World Cup, West Indies and Australia On 18 February 2009, Bopara, along with Amjad Khan, was invited to join the England Test squad on their tour of the West Indies as cover for Andrew Flintoff who was struggling with a hip injury. He scored 124 not out in a warm up match, earning him a place in the 4th Test against the West Indies. In the first innings he scored his maiden Test century with 104 off 143 balls before being caught. He was dropped for the next Test of the series, however he was re-selected for the first Test of the home series against the West Indies on 6 May. There he scored his second consecutive Test century, scoring 143 runs from 186 balls. He then scored another century in the second Test, becoming only the fifth England player to score three consecutive centuries. He credited his success to his coaching by Graham Gooch at Essex.
Bopara played well in England's opening game of the T20 World Cup, hitting 46 against the Netherlands. He made 37 against India before 55 against the West Indies, although England lost the match by 5 wickets. This meant that England progress no further in the competition despite being on home soil.
Australians Mitchell Johnson and Ricky Ponting stated to local media that during the upcoming 2009 Ashes series they were going to target Bopara in particular.
On 22 June, the England selectors announced a sixteen-man preliminary Ashes squad for that summer's series; it included Bopara. Cricinfo staff wrote that "Bopara's stock could not be higher". He found success in a warm-up match against Warwickshire, however, scoring 104 while opening with Andrew Strauss.
Bopara struggled during the series, however, with scores of 35, one, 18, 27, 23, one and a duck. He was dismissed by Ben Hilfenhaus in five of his seven innings. Speculation grew about his position for the final Test, where England required a win to regain the Ashes, and it was announced on 16 August that Bopara had been dropped in favour of uncapped Jonathan Trott, who went on to score a century on debut. Bopara returned to Essex and scored 201 against Surrey, and despite being replaced in the Test team remained in England's squads for the ODI series against Australia and the Champions Trophy in September. On 11 September 2009 it was announced that Bopara had been awarded an "incremental contract" with England, as had Trott. However, after the Champions Trophy Bopara did not play ODI cricket for ten months.
2010 Bangladesh and Pakistan Trott kept his Test place after his impressive debut, and Bopara saw Michael Carberry and Eoin Morgan make their Tests debuts in the away and home series against Bangladesh respectively, with Bopara making neither squad. However, some impressive form for Essex in domestic 40-over and Twenty20 cricket in 2010, as well as a century for the England Lions saw him recalled to the ODI team for the series decider against Bangladesh, after an injury to Ian Bell. Bopara hit a late innings of 45 not out from just 16 balls and took career-best ODI bowling figures of 4/38. His convincing performance led to his selection in the two-match T20 series against Pakistan. England won both matches, but Bopara had little impact, making scores of 11 and 12. Despite this, Bopara played in the ODI series, making 35 runs in the first game as England won by 24 runs. England won the next game, although Bopara only made 16 runs. His poor form continued as England suffered defeat in the final game and Bopara scored just 7 runs.
2011 World Cup and India Bopara headed for the West Indies with England Lions in January 2011 after he missed out for the 2010–11 Ashes series Test and ODI squad and the 2011 World Cup. His stay in the Caribbean was cut short when he was called up to England's World Cup squad before the tournament as a replacement for the injured Eoin Morgan. Bopara played in England's opening match against the Netherlands and scored a match-winning 30 from 20 balls. After that, he did not play against India and Ireland as England chose to field a second spinner, Michael Yardy. Bopara returned to play against South Africa in place of the dropped Paul Collingwood. Bopara came in with the score at 15/3 and managed a partnership of 99 with Trott; Bopara ended with 60 off 98 balls. England restricted South Africa to 165 and Bopara was named the man of the match. England lost the next match by two wickets against Bangladesh, with Bopara scoring 16 runs. Bopara did not perform well against the West Indies, making just 4 with the bat, although England went on to win by 18 runs and progress to the quarter-finals. Here, England were thrashed by ten wickets as Sri Lanka's openers made light work of England's target. Bopara scored 31 when he batted in the first innings.