Varun Chopra

Varun Chopra hit a swashbuckling hundred on his debut in the county championship at the age of 18-years and 338 days. He became the second youngest player from Essex to reach this feat. Varun, an opening batsman was the skipper of the England under-19 team which whitewashed Sri Lanka in their own backyard and was touted as one of the prodigies in the squad.

After his superlative effort on debut, his career didn't reach the heights along the expected line and he moved to Warwickshire in 2009. Unlike Essex, the beginning at Edgbaston was ordinary but in the next season, he hit back-to-back double centuries and regained his lost touch. He was the only player in the squad to cross the 1000-runs-mark every year between 2011-2013. Even in 2014, he was the highest scorer for his team and finished the season as the skipper.

Varun played an imperative role in the championship-winning season for Warwickshire and was selected to represent England Lions too. He was very close for an international call-up but two modest seasons in 2014 and 2015 denied him that opportunity.

The form deserted Varun and in the 2016 season, he was removed as a skipper too. Ian Bell replaced him and this clearly didn't go down well with him. After these developments, Varun decided to move back to Essex. He proved to be the lucky charm for Essex as they won the county championship in the season he returned.

Varun has not been able to achieve his goal of representing England but he remains one of the most valuable opening batsmen in the county circuit.

By Varun Dixit