Warwickshire confirm Chopra exit

Warwickshire have confirmed that Varun Chopra is to leave the club at the end of the season.

Chopra was captain of the club until January and has a good long-term record as a batsman. He has been Warwickshire's top run-scorer (if all competitions are combined) in four of the five previous seasons and, after a modest 2015, has rediscovered his consistency this year. Only Samit Patel has reached 50 more often of Division One batsmen and, in his only T20 appearance of the season, he hit a match-winning 97 not out.

But, as ESPNcricinfo revealed last week, somewhere along the way, the relationship between Chopra and the club management has soured. His desire to have more time off at the end of the season - the club want all players to report back for training in early November - and his reluctance to commit himself to a long-term future at the club have been perceived as not buying into the team culture and setting a less than perfect example to younger players.

The club, mindful of the number of senior players on the staff, are also keen to provide opportunities to younger men and make room in the budget for acquisitions.

But Chopra is just 29 - significantly younger than the likes of Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Rikki Clarke, Tim Ambrose and Jeetan Patel - and could have his best years ahead of him. He retains England aspirations and is known to be of interest to several clubs. He comes across as a most unlikely rebel - he was widely praised for his calm leadership as he led the club to the NatWest Blast title in 2014 - and Warwickshire may come to rue the failure to manage him more effectively.

"Both parties believe that now is a good time for Varun to accept a fresh challenge and he is now able to talk to other counties in order to realise his own career ambitions," a statement released by Warwickshire says. "In the meantime, he remains fully committed to the club and will continue to perform at his best through to the end of the season.

"Whilst everyone at the club is fully aware of his capabilities as a top order batsman, there is also a need to look at the development of the squad in order to be able to maintain a challenge on all fronts in the coming years.

"Everyone at Edgbaston would like to thank Varun for his contribution to Warwickshire over the last seven seasons."