Ravi Bopara determined to prove his worth

 
Practising hard: Ravi Bopara
14 March 2012

Ravi Bopara wants to prove the England selectors were wrong to choose Eoin Morgan ahead of him last summer.

The pair were neck and neck in the race to replace the retired Paul Collingwood until a stunning knock of 193 for England Lions against Sri Lanka earned the Irishman the spot.

It was a bitter pill for Bopara to swallow after he had sacrificed an Indian Premier League contract to push his international claims in the county game - something Morgan did not do as he accepted an offer from Kolkata Knight Riders.

But Morgan was not able to establish himself in the role and has been dropped for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka after a torturous time against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Now Bopara, who admits his disappointment at the original decision, wants the chance to make the position his own.

"Yeah, I was a little bit (disappointed), I was a little bit frustrated," he said of losing out to Morgan.

"I did develop my game a bit when I could have been at the IPL, but that is just the way the cookie crumbles.

"I gave myself the best chance to play for England and it didn't work out. It happens. Would I do it again? Right now I don't know.

"When things like that happen then you know where you stand, but the most important thing was that I learned a lot of lessons in that first month or so (with Essex)."

Bopara's 12 Test caps have taken four years to compile, with his own poor form costing him a place in 2007 and 2009.

But if he is picked at number six for the first Test in Galle on March 26, he believes he is better placed than ever before to prove his credentials.

"I think I'm massively changed," he said. "Back then I was young and a bit naive, which does help sometimes in certain ways, but now I'm more experienced and I'm more confident in my own ability.

"I know what I can do. That plays a massive part when you go out to bat. When you take your guard, if you're sure about yourself and you know what you can do, it gives you the best chance of scoring runs.

"This is a great opportunity for me. It's only a two-Test series but it's a little window to do something special for England.

"That's what I really want to do. I want to go out and win the game and if I can do that and get some runs, I'll be very happy.

"I've had little glimpses of opportunities here and there, but with the two Tests I played last summer I knew they were just going to be one or two games because of injuries.

"There wasn't a lot to gain in terms of my place but a there was a lot to gain confidence-wise."

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