Edgbaston, Aug 9: Recalled into the squad exactly two years after he last represented England in a Test match, Ravi Bopara hopes to make the opportunity count. Bopara will be replacing Jonathon Trott who sustained a shoulder injury while fielding during the second Test match against India at Trent Bridge.
Two years ago, Bopara was replaced by Trott for an Ashes decider at The Oval; the latter was instrumental in helping England win the series with a century on debut.
"When Trotty came in for me in the Ashes he got a hundred; now I'm coming in for him, I hope I can get a hundred," Bopara said in an interaction with the media here.
Bopara made his Test debut in 2007 and played 10 matches for England before being dropped after a dismal performance in the Ashes in 2009. The middle-order batsman believes he still has time to make his presence felt on the international scene in the longest format of the game.
"I'm only 26. You don't want to be really starting your Test career at 30 - I want to start now. Now's an ideal time. I can't keep saying to myself, 'This is my last opportunity' - because I don't feel like that,” he said.
"This is an opportunity, but it's not rocket science that Trotty will come straight back in - he's a class player and he's proved himself for England many, many times. This is a little window of opportunity for me to go out and score runs and prove to myself [I can be a Test player]," he observed.
While discussing where his Test career faltered, he admitted, "I might not have been ready. It might have been that I wasn't a well-rounded enough player to survive in Test cricket at that time."
With this new opportunity, Bopara is determined to impress former Essex team-mate and current England coach Andy Flower who is known for his high standards of performances.
"Andy Flower is very disciplined and a hard man [to impress]. He's hard to please at times, which makes you work even harder. When I played with him at Essex he was very tough on himself, which is probably why he was such a great performer," he said.
"At Essex I pleased him when I was giving him throw-downs [...] I think that when I got three hundreds in a row [against West Indies in 2009], that would have pleased him," he said.
