There is a misconception in the minds of a few people that Ravi Bopara bats well at the end of the innings and that he is a good finisher.

The reality is entirely opposite to that. Bopara is someone who cannot go hard at the bowling straightaway.

He hits the cricket ball cleanly, that is true, but, only when he plays a few deliveries.

He does not tend to muscle the ball, Bopara. He is more of a timer and that’s why, he needs some time at the crease.

However, in most of the teams which he plays for, he has to come lower down the order.

Even in the Indian Premier League this year, there is the same scenario. Bopara is batting 6 and sometimes even 7.

In the Sunrisers XI, there is a very strong case for Bopara to be pushed up as most of the guys in there are highly inexperienced and some of them are not even capped internationals.

No. 3 is Bopara’s place to bat in T20 Cricket or maybe no. 4, but, not lower than that. He can open as well if the Sunrisers want.

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Irish Cricket Movie Ranking: 5 / 5

Ravi Bopara had gone unsold during the IPL auctions in 2014 and he perhaps would have expected the same to happen to him again, but, that was not the case to be. He was actually picked by the Sunrisers Hyderabad today.

The former Australian player Tom Moody is the coach of the Sunrisers at the moment and it’s him who makes all the calls for them.

Moody is somebody who has been a professional coach for a long, long time and he does not believe in chasing those big, flashy names. He knows he needs to get utility players in to build a team and thus, he spends money very sensibly.

He would get some handy lower order batting from Bopara and a couple of tight overs with the ball too and the Kent all rounder did not cost him much either.  So, it was a brilliant pick.

Irish Cricket Video Score: 4 / 5

Ravi Bopara got the chance to bat slightly up in the batting order in the first game of the Carlton Mid One Day International Series against Australia in Sydney today, but, he could not make the most of it as he perished just at the score of 13 to the left arm spinner Xavier Doherty.

Bopara was positive to start with as he played a lofted cover drive and a flick shot to get him going.

He tried to continue the aggression against the spinner too and he cannot be criticized for his choice of shot there on that ball because it was there to be hit.

Irish Cricket Online video Rating: 4 / 5

Stuart Broad has sympathized with the medium fast bowler who hit Philip Hughes with his bouncer in the first round Shield game between New South Wales and South Australia on Tuesday.

The bowler named Sean Abbott is just 22-year old at the moment and has recently made his international debut for Australia.

He is believed to be one of the most exciting prospects to have come through the ranks recently in Australia as far as the seam bowling is concerned.

He is not express pace, but, he is just about as quick as required to trouble the batsman.

The bouncer that Abbott bowled to Hughes, it was surely not the quickest bouncer in the world. Hughes, in fact, got beaten by the lack of pace. He was through his shot before the ball came. If he had waited for a fraction of second more, he might have connected the bat with the ball, but, the destiny wanted something else.

According to Broad, no bowler in the world bowls a bouncer with the intention of doing any serious damage to the batsman and Abbott would not have done that intentionally either. It was just an unfortunate incident which occurred somehow.

Talking to the reporters about Hughes’ injury, Broad said, “As a quickie, you never intend to knock somebody down on the ground by bowling a bumper. You just bowl it to get the batsman out. You do it with some aggression, but, you never feel good when the batsman gets hit by your delivery. I can assure you that.”

“I am really sorry for Sean and I am sure many people around the world would be. He did nothing wrong. He just tried to do his job which was to get Phil dismissed.”

Irish Cricket Online video Score: / five