21 Interesting facts about Ravi Bopara

Ravi Bopara, the England’s medium pace all-rounder of Indian origin is an experienced player in the shortest formats of the game. Bopara has represented England in 13 Tests, 120 ODI and 38 T20Is so far. He has played in several T20 leagues across the globe. On the occasion of his 31st birthday, here are few facts about the right-hander.

1. Birth:

Ravinder Singh Bopara was born in a “Sikh” family on May 4th, 1985.

2. First-class debut:

Ravi Bopara made his professional cricket debut for Essex in 2002.

3. U19 World Cup:

He made it into England’s U19 squad for the 2004 U19 World Cup. He played under Alistair Cook alongside Luke Wright, Tim Bresnan, Liam Plunkett and Samit Patel.

4. International debut:

In 2007, Bopara made his International debut after he was picked up during the CB Series game against Australia on February 2nd.

5. Debut World Cup:

He featured in 2007 World Cup where he scored a 52 vs Sri Lanka in a thrilling chase. He was awarded man of the match award for his efforts despite the fact that his team lost the game by 2 runs.

6. Test debut:

Ravi made his Test debut in the same year during Sri Lanka tour in December. He was a part of the squad in the 1st Test match at Kandy.

7. Double ton in List A:

He scored an unbeaten 201 in a List A game in June, 2008 for Essex against Leicestershire in Quarter Final of Friends Provident Trophy. He scored 201 off just 138 balls with 18 fours and 10 sixes.

8. List A record:

Ravi Bopara’s 201 vs Leicestershire was the first instance of a player scoring a double ton in the knockout game in List A cricket. Since then only Martin Guptill (vs WI in 2015 CWC) scored a List A double ton in a knockout.

9. Record in Test cricket:

In 2009, he became only the 5th England player to score 3 centuries in 3 consecutive innings in Test cricket. He scored 104, 143 and 108 vs West Indies in consecutive innings.

10. IPL debut:

He played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2009 and 2010 for Kings XI Punjab after he was bought by them in auctions for 450,000 USD.

11. Century in Twenty20s:

In 2010, Ravi Bopara scored his maiden century in Twenty20 cricket. He scored an unbeaten 105 off 62 balls with 8 fours and 6 sixes vs Somerset. Thus, he became the first player to score a double century in List A cricket and a century in Twenty20 cricket. Later 7 players- Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Jamie How, Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle, Martin Guptill and Travis Head achieved the rare feat.

12. 2011 World Cup:

He featured in 2011 ODI World Cup as well where he scored a 60 vs South Africa in a low scoring thriller at Chennai. He was awarded man of the match award for his important knock.

13. IPL offer:

Following Paul Collingwood’s injury, Bopara was contacted by Delhi Daredevils in 2011 to play for them in the IPL for a deal worth 100,000 USD which he turned down.

14. First wickets:

His first and only wicket in Test cricket was Mike Hussey while his first wicket in T20Is was Rahul Dravid, who played only one T20I in his career.

15. Comeback in national team:

Bopara made a comeback into the England team for the 2013 Champions Trophy at home. He scored an unbeaten 46 vs Australia towards the end and played a key role in their win. He picked up 3 wickets and scored 30 runs vs India in the finals but his side lost the game by 5 runs.

16. World T20:

Bopara has featured in 4 World T20s for England. He played in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014 editions.

17. Comeback in IPL:

Bopara was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2015 auctions for Rs. 1,00,00,000. He played in 9 games in the season and scored 145 runs at an average of 29 and picked up 6 wickets.

18. 6-wicket haul:

During Pakistan Super League in 2016, Bopara recorded figures of 4-0-16-6 for Karachi Kings against Lahore Qalandars. His figures stand in the top 10 best bowling figures in T20 cricket.

19. Performance in PSL:

In the PSL, he scored329 runs and picked up 11 wickets. He was awarded Man of the tournament for his all-round performance.

20. Rare record in Twenty20 cricket:

Ravi Bopara is one of the 9 players who have scored 1500+ runs and picked up 150+ wickets in Twenty20 format.

21. Captaincy duties:

He has been appointed as Essex captain for their limited overs tournament for the 2016 season.