Rangpur Riders’ English all rounder Ravi Bopara on Saturday said he was looking forward to play with veteran Mashrafee bin Murtaza and win this year’s Bangladesh Premier League title.
‘Mashrafee is a type of guy you want to play for. He gives 100 per cent so you have to give him 100 per cent back, which is good for any team.‘He is a very accurate bowler with authority, which is important,’ he added.
Bopara, a known face in BPL, played for Chittagong Kings, Sylhet Super Stars and Dhaka Dynamites in 2013, 2015 and 2016 respectively before joining Riders this season.
Riders, who became fifth in the previous version of BPL, added superstars like Chris Gayle, Brendan McCullum and Lasith Malinga this season, which left Bopara optimistic about their title credentials.
‘I want to win the tournament and there’s no point coming here to lose.’ Bopara told the reporters after a training session on Saturday.
Bopara played 262 Twenty20 matches in his career including across the globe and scored 5,265 runs alongside picking 183 wickets.
He found BPL a quality competition with the presence of many big names.
‘The competition has always been good in Bangladesh. There have been big players in the past, like last year they had Kumar Sangakkara and Dwayne Bravo.’
Though he was playing in a new team, Bopara he is feeling home in the company of some of his former team-mates.
‘We expect a competition against every team, but we have got a good team,’ said Bopara.
‘I am playing with new players but I have played with Ziaur Rahman before. There are some English players in the team and I have worked with Tom Moody in the past, he is very nice and familiar.’
-With New Age input
