Former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara reminisced about his time at the Indian Premier League franchise Punjab Kings. Bopara joined the Punjab-based franchise in 2009 when the team was named Kings XI Punjab, he spent two seasons there. The 2009 edition of IPL was played in South Africa due to elections in India as several players missed the Indian flavour in the cash-rich league.
Bopara played 15 matches for Punjab Kings in which he scored 346 runs which included three half-centuries. While he picked up five wickets with the ball.
“Those were the early days in the IPL, when it was a party, those were the great days,” said Bopara on FanCode’s IPL show ‘The Super Over.’
He recalled a moment when team co-owner and Bollywood actress Preity Zinta cooked aloo parathas for him with her own hands – a gesture he will not forget in his life.
“The standout moment apart from winning, and getting my highest score, was when Preity Zinta cooked parathas for me. She made them with her own hands. When she asked me what I wanted for breakfast, I mentioned aloo parathas, and she graciously made them herself. I am forever thankful for that gesture,” he added.
Punjab failed to play consistent cricket in the 2009 edition as the franchise finished fifth on the points table. They had a mixed season with seven wins and as many losses as they finished fifth on the points table.
Meanwhile, things went downhill for them in the 2010 season where they ended up at the bottom of the table and won just four wins out of 14 matches.
Bopara later made a return to IPL in the 2015 edition where he represented Sunrisers Hyderabad. He scored 145 runs and picked 6 wickets. His IPL career ended with 531 runs in 24 matches and 11 scalps under his kitty.
Punjab once again had a mixed start
Punjab Kings started their IPL 2024 campaign with a win over Delhi Capitals at their new home ground Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh. They produced a clinical performance to register a four-wicket win. However, they failed to continue the momentum and lost the next match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. In a thrilling contest, RCB held their nerves in a tricky 177-run chase and won the match by four wickets with four balls to spare.
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