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Ollie Pope defended England’s cautious batting on day considered one of the third Test against India, citing a tricky pitch and tight bowling. England finished at 251/4, with Pope scoring 44.
England scored 251/4 on the primary day of the Lord’s Test (Picture Credit: AP)
“This wasn’t a surface where you possibly can come out swinging,” stated Ollie Pope as he justified England’s decision to desert ‘Bazball’ for a more cautious batting approach on the primary day of the third Test against India.
England ended the day at 251/4 after a notably defensive performance requiring considerable patience, quite different from their usual aggressive scoring rate on this format.
“This wasn’t a surface where you possibly can come out swinging. The Indian attack maintained their lengths and made scoring difficult,” Pope mentioned in the course of the post-play press conference, referring to the tight spells bowled by the Indian attack, bolstered by the return of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (1/35).
Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/46) was essentially the most successful while Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj contributed effectively to limit the scoring rate.
“…not necessarily the best way we’re used to form of going about, putting together a primary innings, but I believe 250 for 4 is a fairly, pretty good rating… obviously would have liked some more runs…,” Pope, who scored a gritty 104-ball 44 before being dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja, commented.
“…but I believe the the character of the surface and I believe the best way the Indian attack bowled as well was pretty good throughout,” he added.
Pope remarked that the opening day’s play was all about respecting the conditions and adapting to the team’s needs.
“I believe it’s a day that we’ll take, obviously we’ve needed to adapt… I believe for us, yeah, it’s nearly improving as a team and reading situations.
“…sometimes it may be that you simply see some more aggressive shots on a pitch that’s really moving around and nipping around.
“(That’s) because that’s your best way of putting some pressure back on the bowlers and attempting to get them to type of stop doing what they wish to do,” he explained.
Discussing his batting approach, Pope said constructing an innings was his priority.
“…it’s something that we’re we’re attempting to improve and higher as a team and clearly (it’s) a Test against India. They’re all the time going to check you in in those form of situations. So yeah, it’s just attempting to adapt,” he asserted.
(With PTI Inputs)
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