Facing India our toughest challenge : Bopara

Dashing middle order bat, Ravi Bopara, opined that facing India on Sunday is indeed tough.

This is one of our toughest challenges in this tournament. We know what the Indian batsman are capable of but we do have our plans to keep them quiet. We will see on Sunday."

"If it is a spinning deck, we have got our own spinners who can cause problems. A pitch that spins is going to cause trouble for any team. It is going to cause problems for India as well. A lot is going to depend on the conditions," he added.

"Every match is big for us. Even the game the other night was also big for us. But against India in India is going to be huge.

"We are not thinking too much about it. If you think too much about it you will get out of the mould. We want to stay relaxed."

He said England has definite plans for the Sunday match.


"We have plans against each bowler and every batsman but it is how the batsman feel on the day. We generally play aggressive cricket. We know in places like Bangalore, there can be high totals like 270-300. It is a good wicket to bat on, especially against the seamers. It slides onto the bat quite nicely. Last time I played in Bangalore, it did not spin."

He is not bothered about not playing in Calcutta.

"We won convincingly against Pakistan in the warm-up game. I wasn't there in Australia. So I cannot comment about it. As soon as we arrived here, it has been back to usual work. The last two to three years, England have been excellent in ODIs. I am used to winning with England."

England's No 6 was eloquent about England's batting ability.

"It can be really hard work if the ball is not coming on but if we get some good wickets, like what we got the other day, it would be a lovely place to bat. We can free our arms and with the small grounds in India, we can generally score sixes," Bopara said.

He said he will be the last man not to seize opportunities.

"It is a big opportunity to get back into the side. I have got two opportunities so far, one in the warm-up game and then in the opening match. I haven't thought about that competition (with Yardy). I am just trying to do my best in every practice session."