Varun Chopra

Varun Chopra (born 21 June 1987) is an English first-class cricketer, and has captained the English U-19 cricket team in series against Sri Lanka in 2005 and India in 2006.

For the Irish cricketer, see Varun Chopra (Irish cricketer).

Varun Chopra
Personal information
Full nameVarun Chopra
Born (1987-06-21) 21 June 1987
Barking, London, England
NicknameTidz
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight arm off break
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2005–2009Essex
2010–2016Warwickshire (squad no. 3)
2016–presentEssex (squad no. 6)
2019→ Sussex (on loan) (squad no. 2)
FC debut15 April 2006 Essex v Loughborough UCCE
LA debut9 June 2006 Essex v Sri Lankans
Career statistics
Competition FC LA T20
Matches 192 114 115
Runs scored 10,243 4,789 2,896
Batting average 34.48 46.04 29.25
100s/50s 20/50 12/28 2/20
Top score 233* 160 116
Balls bowled 204 18 –
Wickets 0 0 –
Bowling average – – –
5 wickets in innings – – –
10 wickets in match – n/a n/a
Best bowling – – –
Catches/stumpings 228/– 41/– 25/–
Source: Cricinfo, 20 September 2020

Chopra attended Ilford County High School and played for Ilford Cricket Club.[1]

He played for Essex, and made his debut for the senior side in 2006, making 106 in a drawn game against Gloucestershire, becoming the youngest player to score a century for Essex in county cricket.

The latest to come off an impressive conveyor belt of young batsmen at Essex, of which includes former England Test and ODI captain Alastair Cook. Varun Chopra is an opening batsman of considerable talent. He has already impressed as captain of England Under-19s, whom he led to a comprehensive series whitewash of Sri Lanka in 2005. He was on fire himself, averaging 48 in the Tests and striking a half-century in one of the two ODIs. But life was about to get immediately tougher for him and his side – an 11–0 pasting followed on the winter tour of Bangladesh.

Varun Chopra joined the Willetton Dragons cricket club in the 2006/07 season to play first grade in Western Australia.

Graham Gooch is a fan, calling him "a smart lad who works hard at his game and has a natural eye for a ball." Gooch first encountered him at an Indian coaching camp. "He looked a good player then – upright and likes to play off the front and back foots straight through cover."

Chopra's domestic season started off well in 2006 – he struck a hundred and a fifty on Championship debut and has been slowly making his mark in the first team, even keeping Grant Flower out of the side.

Chopra joined Warwickshire for the start of the 2010 season.[2] In 2011 he became the first Warwickshire batsman to score double tons in back to back county matches.[3]

After seven, largely successful seasons at Warwickshire, he returned to Essex during the 2016 season.[4] In 2017 and 2018 he played in the championship only when Alastair Cook was not available, as Nick Browne took the other opener position, but in limited-overs games he was first choice. In 2019 he had spectacular run in the London One-Day Cup scoring 3 centuries and averaging 84[5] , but Essex did not qualify for the play-offs.

Chopra was part of the England Lions' tour of Australia in 2013, and made a century against Australia A.

In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Amsterdam Knights in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.[6][7] However, the following month the tournament was cancelled.[8]

References
  1. "Derbyshire 312 Essex 271–4: Flower proves hot in chiller". The Independent On Sunday. 22 June 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  2. "Chopra ready to make a step up with Warwickshire". Coventry Telegraph. 31 May 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  3. "Varun Chopra scores second successive double century to put Warwickshire in control against Worcestershire". The Telegraph. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  4. "Varun Chopra". The Fortress. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  5. "Essex Batting Averages". cricinfo. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  6. "Eoin Morgan to represent Dublin franchise in inaugural Euro T20 Slam". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  7. "Euro T20 Slam Player Draft completed". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  8. "Inaugural Euro T20 Slam cancelled at two weeks' notice". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
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