Cricketer of Indian-origin Varun Chopra, who recently broke the record of Arthur Jervois Turner by becoming the youngest Essex batsman to score a century on his Championship debut, is a focussed player.

Chopra broke the 109-year old record of Turner by hitting 106 runs from 162 balls in a second division County championship against Gloucestershire at Chelmsford recently. He beat the previous record set by Turner in 1897 by 71 days.

Born and raised in Ilford, 19-year-old Chopra is coached both by Joe Hussain, father of famous England skipper Nasser Hussain and Graham Gooch.

Chopra scored the century on his championship debut in a finely poised match against Gloucestershire. Apart from his century, skipper Ronnie Irani hit 87 in the home side's total of 388 all out last week.

The right-handed opener, who captained England Under-19s to victory in a three-Test series against Sri Lanka last summer, was selected after scoring hundreds in each of his past two second XI appearances.

Chopra who has put his studies at Loughborough University on the backburner to concentrate on cricket, has raised many hopes from the cricket stalwarts. Joe Hussain, who took Varun under his wing at his Ilford-based cricket school said,"Playing for Essex is a massive jump for him as he will be facing Test bowlers but now that he has broken into the Essex team, Varun needs to hold his place. After that, he'll need to clear the next hurdle and that hurdle is England."

Just like famous England Skipper Nasser Hussain, Varun Chopra has played for Ilford in their Shepherd Neame matches. "He is too good for that standard of cricket," Hussain chuckles and adds, "I think he's better than Nasser was at 18. Nasser had already played first-class cricket at 21 and went on to play and captain England but talent wise, Varun is already showing great things, even though in terms of dedication, they are on a par."

Essex captain Ronnie Irani said: "Varun Chopra has scored heavily in the second team and deserves the reward of making his Championship debut against Gloucestershire. As captain I obviously want to win games for the club and its members and part of my duty is also to bring one or two youngsters through as well. Varun has forced his way into the side through performances."

"I have been with Essex since I was eight years old and my ultimate aim is to play for England. Hopefully, this is a step along the way," Chopra later told newsmen.