Bopara under no illusions about his future prospects

Without Bopara’s hard-earned 73 in England’s opening warm-up match against a Hyderabad Cricket Association XI at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, it is hard to see how the tourists would have avoided a chastening defeat.

In-form Bopara bailed them out from 47-4, batting first on a slow and awkward surface and after Chris Woakes had lent a hand with an unbeaten 46, 219 all out proved defendable.

Bopara’s important runs were a continuation of his productivity in last month’s 3-0 NatWest Series victory at home to India, and in this mood – even with tough competition for middle-order batting positions – he appears to be a lynchpin for the forthcoming rematch in five one-day internationals.

It is all a far cry from Bopara’s experience in the third Test at Edgbaston, less than two months ago, when England trounced India by an innings – on the back of Alastair Cook’s career-best 294 and Eoin Morgan’s century.

Almost everybody apart from Bopara, shunted into the team for what seemed might be a fleeting chance in place of the injured Jonathan Trott, made handy runs as England took a series-clinching 3-0 lead and usurped India at the top of the Test rankings. Bopara is not about to forget, even in his current run of form, that there will always be ups and downs in his profession.

“It can turn around very quickly – as I know it can the opposite way as well,” he said.

“I’ve been in this position before, where things are going very well for England and all of a sudden a couple of weeks later, you are under pressure again.”

Bopara has been dropped and recalled several times in his 64-match ODI career to date.

“I think that’s part of life, and part of the game as well,” he added.

“It’s a cut-throat business. You’ve just got to keep playing well whenever things are in your favour, and make sure you nail it.”

He is doing just that at present, and yesterday provided his team-mates with a necessary example of how to adapt to Indian conditions – in a half-century which contained just one four and a six.

His advice is not to entertain half-measures.

“I think you’ve always got to look for boundaries; you’ve got to keep hitting the ball very hard,” he said.

“But it is a lot more difficult (in India), because you do know that if the pitch is not playing quite right you can’t go through with all your shots – with the worry of chipping it to the in-field.

“You’ve got to have that in mind.

“You don’t then hit the ball quite as hard or freely as you would like to. I think rotating the strike is going to be key.

“On those sort of pitches, the ones do become very important – you don’t want to be tied up with too many dot balls and put yourself under pressure, and have to look for a big shot on a pitch that is not quite suited to the batters.”

Bopara has the reassurance of early runs on this short tour, but is hungry for more – starting in tomorrow’s second and final warm-up match against the same opposition at the same venue.

“You can work as hard as you want in the nets, and spend hours on it, and it will help your game – but there’s nothing better than that hour, hour-and-a-half in the middle in the pressure of the game,” he said.

“That was good for me, good for Woakesy. I hope the top four can get some big runs in the next game.”

As for the start he has made, he added: “It’s going to be a massive help leading into the series. I’d like to get another score in the next game, if I do play.

“That will settle me nicely for the rest of the series, and I hope I can kick on from there.”

He will not waste time either fretting about how he keeps his place in a team boasting a succession of likely lads in the middle order.

“There’s some fierce competition for batters in the side, which is good – and keeps you on your toes. But you can’t get wrapped up in competition too much; you can’t start thinking about things that aren’t important. That next ball is the most important.”

n Craig Kieswetter is set to join England in practice for the first time today, after Somerset’s semi-final elimination from the Champions League.

The wicket-keeper suffered a bruised arm while batting for the Sabres and England will assess the injury as soon as possible.

Somerset’s challenge was ended after Mumbai Indians prevailed by 10 runs in Chennai.

Aiden Blizzard’s half-century lifted the Indian side to 160-5, a total boosted when 20 runs came from the 19th over.

Kieswetter led Somerset’s chase with 62, but they were restricted to 150-7 as Lasith Malinga took 4-20.

Malinga bowled Nick Compton and Kartik and captain Alfonso Thomas could not get Somerset over the line.

Mumbai went on to win the tournament yesterday with a 31-run victory over the Bangalore Royal Challengers at the same venue.

James Franklin, with 41 off 29 balls, top-scored for the Indians as they posted a seemingly below-par total of 139 all out from their 20 overs, Raju Bhatkal claiming 3-21.

Tillakaratne Dilshan made a quickfire 27 in response but Bangalore danger man Chris Gayle failed to get out of first gear and the early dismissals of the pair were signs of things to come for the Royal Challengers, who stuttered to 108 all out from 19.2 overs.

Harbhajan Singh took 3-20 for Mumbai, while Yuzvendra Chahal finished with figures of 2-9 and Malinga (2-23).