Whatever the sport there are
always a few players who never seem to fulfil their true potential. One such
example of this is could be Ravi Bopara. It seems that he has been around for a
long time now despite only being twenty seven years of age. Bopara should just
coming to his peak in cricketing terms, but has he played his last
international game?
There had been a time when he was
the talk of English cricketing as a potential star of the game. The Essex
allrounder has played thirteen test matches and eighty three one day internationals.
These figures indicate that he was never an established player in the England
team. His three centuries in thirteen
tests is not really bad going, many other players would like this conversion
rate in test cricket. This should have been the start that established him in
the side.
The problems all started when
Bopara made his Ashes debut, he failed pretty badly in that series and was
subsequently dropped from the test side. It probably was the right decision at
the time to axe him from the side, although Eoin Morgan his replacement in the
side only did slightly better. Since
this time Ravi Bopara has been in and out of the side. Normally drafted in
again after some other player has failed. The only question is if Bopara will
get another chance to play test cricket? He had to drop out the squad last
summer for personal reasons and saw his name drop down the pecking order. Now
Joe Root and Johhny Bairstow are both ahead of him as well as Eoin Morgan, Jos
Buttler and James Taylor. These same players also have pushed Bopara out of the
one day side.
What was surprising is that
Bopara had been selected in the squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy. Many
people believe that he has had too many chances. Alistair Cook once stated that
Bopara had more talent than he did, the difference probably is in mentality.
I personally believe that he is good enough to
win back his place but I do not see it happening. So this probably means that
Ravi Bopara could be added to the long list of players who did not fulfil their
potential, the other names on this list include Mark Ramprakash and Graham
Hick. These two players were rated higher than Brian Lara at youth levels, with
Ramprakash outscoring the West Indian legend in a youth world cup.
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