Ravi Bopara has said he hopes the Indian Premier League comes to England rather than South Africa in three weeks’ time. The England batsman, who has been signed by Kings XI Punjab for the coming season, at a cost of $450,000, was looking forward to playing in India, in the region from which his parents originate. But if the security issues in India preclude the 59-match tournament taking place in that country, then he would favour England rather than the other potential host country South Africa.

On Sunday the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, David Collier, said that, if required, it was ready to stage the tournament which could be fully accommodated in the desired time frame and on major grounds in England without recourse to altering fixtures. “I would welcome it being in England,” Bopara said in Guyana on Monday prior to catching the team charter to Barbados. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with it as long as the county schedule and the West Indies tour does not change.”

But like Andrew Flintoff before him Bopara has mixed feelings about the prospect of not playing in India. “I think it is disappointing,” he said. “What I was looking forward to was the crowds, the hype, the whole IPL thing. I was excited by it. But if we are playing in England, then I’ll just get on with it.”

However, he sounds a warning to those who might be expecting April and May in England to be conducive to the sort of pyrotechnics seen in the tournament’s inaugural season. “Conditions in India lend themselves to explosive cricket,” he said. “I don’t think it will affect the spectacle but it will be harder to get big scores. The seven English players involved, though, will be used to the conditions so that might help us and it should also help us for the World Twenty20 a month or so later. So I think it can be a good thing for us if it happens.”

Since the IPL player auction Bopara’s stock has risen. He replaced Ian Bell in the Test side and made his maiden Test century in the fourth Test in Barbados. For the Twenty20 match in Trinidad and the one-day internationals that followed in Guyana he was given the responsibility of opening, in an endeavour to find a combination that would be able to take advantage of the powerplays in place at the start of the innings. If his success has been muted so far, he has hopes that he can grow into a role he relishes.

“I would like to see myself opening long term,” he admitted. “I’ve always wanted to do it and I’m so happy I’ve got my opportunity with England. I want to make the most of it because I do want to open for the next so many years and I want to be known as England’s opener. I’m excited about it and I want to do it for however long I play international cricket. It can be difficult at the top of the order but it has its benefits as well. You can pierce the ring and it goes for four. But there are advantages and disadvantages.

“You are up against the new ball and you can always get a good delivery with that. Hopefully I won’t need a long run to prove myself. I want to do that over the next three games and the one-day series coming up in England and the Twenty20 matches I’ll be playing. I want to go to Barbados, score some big runs and win and that will prove myself.”
Source – guardian.co.uk