Ranji Trophy 2024: Who is Agni Chopra?

Agni Chopra, the Mizoram cricketer, recently made headlines for his impressive show against Sikkim on Ranji Trophy debut. His dazzling knock in the debut innings saw him garner massive praise in the domestic cricketing fraternity, and got everyone to talk about his sound batting technique. The left-handed batter, however, has a very brief history that associates to Bollywood.

In his family, though, the southpaw is not the only person to be doing praiseworthy stuff, as his father and popular Bollywood filmmaker- Vidhu Vinod Chopra is getting a lot of appreciation for the movie titled “12th Fail”.  Although the film did not get a lot of attention during its theatrical release back in November 2023, the recent OTT release has got a lot of hubbub going around the film, especially the way it is directed by Vidhu. Notably, the B'town personality has also written movies like 'Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.', '3 Idiots', and 'Ferrari Ki Sawari', to name a few.

Coming back to Agni, the Michigan-born batter has been exceptional on his First Class debut. Playing Ranji (Plate league) game against Sikkim, he came in to bat at 3 when Mizoram were a wicket down without adding a run against the opposition's 442/9d. Sikkim tried to put instant pressure on Day 2 by picking early wickets, however, Agni had planned differently.

Without getting any support from the other end, the 25-year-old kept the scoreboard moving thick and fast with his 179-ball 166. During this inning, he hit 19 boundaries and seven towering maximums to obligate a counterattacking innings. His knock eventually went in vain, as the entire team was bundled out for 214, wherein as many as seven batters were sent back to the pavilion without opening their accounts.

Agni 'fires' while Mizoram follow on

Following on, Mizoram were still 228 runs behind Sikkim, and needed to bounce back stronger, but this time too, an early breakthrough meant that the centurion from first innings arrived at the crease on the third ball of the innings. Continuing from where he left, Agni kept scoring runs from one end, and helped in re-sailing the sinking ship. In just 74 balls, Chopra scored a fiery knock of 92 runs, studded with 11 fours and a maximum.

He did fall short of a well-deserved century, while Mizoram were still trailing behind by 78. Mohit Jangra, who batted in the lower-middle order, made 126 off just 124 balls to help take the total to 397, before the side eventually got all out, thereby setting a target of 170 in the fourth innings. On Day 4, Sikkim managed to cross past the line, putting Chopra's valiant efforts in vain, but he has surely put his best case forward to mark his arrival in first-class cricket.

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