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Sports correspondent & historian with |
Sitting in the shadow of Kane Williamson’s retirement is the calling of time by a Northern Districts and Bay of Plenty batsman who has set numerous milestones in a game where big numbers are the high-value currency.
A Northern Districts Cricket news story last week quietly announced that Bharat Popli had retired from professional cricket after 12 seasons playing for the ND flagship side.
The ND top-order batter posted more than 5000 runs at an impressive average of 40.
Popli wrote his own piece of NZ Cricket history by becoming just the fifth player to score more than 1000 runs in a domestic first-class season. His 1149 runs in the 2015/16 season earned him NZ Cricket Domestic Player of the Year honours.
Before turning professional, Popli was selected for the Bay of Plenty representative side, making his debut against Hamilton in December 2008, while still a student at Tauranga Boys’ College.
From the outset, big numbers were Popli’s trademark in Bay of Plenty representative cricket.
The teenage batter was unfazed by debuting against ND provincial heavyweight Hamilton, where he announced his arrival with 113 runs batting at three.
Popli became just the fifth Bay of Plenty batsman to score a century on debut since the region played its first representative match in 1932.
The big numbers continued even after he secured a professional contract, often turning out in Bay of Plenty colours during the NZC first-class season.
Bay of Plenty Cricket Association records show Popli posted his highest score against Counties Manukau in March 2021, in a match where Bay of Plenty secured the ND two-day trophy for the 17th time.
Popli played a controlled innings, scoring 191 runs off 240 balls, including 19 fours and five sixes.
His best score sits fifth on the BOPCA all-time list, behind Alex Lees (223), Joe Carter (215 not out), Taylor Bettelheim (211 not out) and Brett Hampton (194).
Popli is by far Bay of Plenty’s most prolific century-maker, with 14 centuries – six more than fellow Bay of Plenty standout Joe Carter.
The Bay of Plenty record-setter also features prominently across a wide range of representative achievements.
In addition to his 14 centuries, Popli sits first on the all-time batting honours list with 4528 runs, becoming the first Bay batter to break the 4000-run mark.
He is also part of two of Bay of Plenty’s highest partnerships. Popli and Blair McKenzie put on 269 runs for the third wicket against Counties Manukau in the 2020/21 season.
The second-best partnership came with Joe Carter, with the pair combining for 208 runs against Hamilton in an NZC Hawke Cup game in 2013.
Bay of Plenty set a new Hawke Cup record of 701 in that innings, with Carter scoring 187 and Popli falling just short of a century on 99.
Other notable achievements include 106 Bay of Plenty appearances, placing him second behind only RPO Drysdale (142), and a season tally of 733 runs – second only to Joe Carter (779).
Bharat Popli will be long remembered in Northern Districts and Bay of Plenty cricket as both a regional and local legend.