Agni Chopra continues to produce record-breaking show in Indian domestic circuit. Son of famous filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Agni peeled off a double-century and a century in the same match of India’s top-flight red-ball competition. Representing Mizoram, the top-order batter scored 110 off 138 in the first innings and followed that with a memorable 238 off 209 against Arunachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 Plate division.
Mizoram went on to win the contest by a whopping margin of 267 runs. Agni, for his record show, was chosen player-of-the-match.
A Record Start
Agni’s father Vidhu has helmed some of the finest Bollywood movies in his storied career having directed the critically acclaimed 12th Fail last year. His mother Anupama Chopra is a well-known movie critic. Out of cinema and cricket, India’s two biggest obsessions, Agni chose the latter.
“So I have been asked this question from childhood that will you go into movies but I never thought I would ever be in movies,” Agni told news agency PTI in an interview. “I never thought that, ‘oh, I should get in because my dad makes movies and it will be an easy avenue for me’. I was never interested in movies. I mean I love watching movies and have a great time but it was never my passion.”
Born in Detroit (Michigan), the 25-year-old made his first-class debut earlier this year in January and got his Ranji Trophy career off to a rollicking start by peeling off four centuries in his first four matches, a record. Having started his cricket journey in Mumbai’s age-group cricket, he took the decision to move to Mizoram to get more game time.
Agni finished the 2023-24 season with 939 runs from six matches that included five centuries and three fifties. He averaged a stunning 78.25 and scored at an outstanding strike-rate of 103.30.
A Promising Start
After racking up stunning numbers in his maiden Ranji Trophy season, Agni seems to have continued from where he left in February. In Mizoram’s first match of the ongoing season, he scored 51 and 29 against Sikkim before plundering 348 against Arunachal in a big win.
“My dad told me and my sister when we were younger what his father told him: ‘Agar tumhein sadak par mochi ban-na hai, apne sadak ka best mochi ban-na. (If wish to become a cobbler, be the best in your street),” Agni told PTI.
“He gave us freedom to do what we wanted but told us to try to be the absolute best. Talent can only take you that far, as the rest depends on the work you do and I saw that in his movies. The amount of work my father and my mother put in their professions, I saw that it rubbed off on me,” he added.
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