Tendulkar warms up to Bopara's 'special' talent

London:

Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar considers England batsman Ravi Bopara as a 'special' talent and feels if the opener keeps his head, he could go a long way.

"We had a chat a couple of years ago when we played at Chelmsford," Tendulkar said.

"He looked promising balanced, well-organised and all he has to do is not to think too much about the external factors, just try to focus on cricket and he has got a fantastic future," said the Tendulkar, who was here to launch a book recognising his contribution to cricket.

"An individual gets distracted only if he allows himself to be distracted, so it is in hands. But he has the talent to do something special," Tendulkar said.

Meanwhile, Bopara's captain in the England Twenty20 team, Paul Collingwood, thinks the Indian Premier League experience in South Africa has brought in a paradigm shift in the 24-year-old opener's batting.

"Ravi has come back a new man," Collingwood was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

"Looking at the way he's holding himself at the moment, he's very calm. He just knows his game so well.

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