Varun Chopra

Not everyone is that adroit to begin their Championship career with a hundred, Varun Chopra then became the second-highest to score a ton for Essex. Born in Barking, Chopra - a top-order batter who juggled between Essex and Warwickshire, before returning back home in 2016. The Essex man is also a former England Under 19 captain and has represented England Lions time in, time out. 

The Barking-born debuted for Essex back in 2006 and had a superb start to his career, but he could sustain that standard. He then decided to play for Warwickshire in 2009, where he didn’t start on a high note but hit back-to-back double centuries in the following season. Chopra didn’t lose his golden touch and piled over 1000 FC runs from 2011 to 2013. In 2014, the golden boy again topped the run-tally for his county, before ending the season as Warwickshire captain. 

Meanwhile, Chopra was contributing highly in the shorter formats too, as he led Birmingham Bears to their first domestic T20 title in 2014. He was also handed an England Lions opportunity back in 2012, the year when he helped his county win the Championship. However, two modest seasons in 2015 and 2016 meant Chopra first lost his throne to Ian Bell and then the contract. 

The Barking-born returned to Essex in August 2016 to play as a heartthrob for the club in their Division Two-winning season. In 2017, he hit two T20 hundreds in the Vitality Blast. While Chopra ended the 2019 season as the leading run-getter in the Royal London One-Day Cup. 

At 34, Chopra has accomplished over 10000 first-class runs and more than 7500 in white-ball formats, but two modest seasons during his prime years stopped Chopra from getting an English cap. However, the best Chopra can do is perform and leave rest to destiny. 

(As of July 2021)