'Ben Stokes went inside a shell but Ollie Pope...' - Pragyan Ojha's huge praise for batter

Ollie Pope becomes the first centurion of the ongoing five-match Test series between India and England as he completed his century in 154 balls in the third session on Day 3 of the first Test. The Test match is being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad and England is currently leading by more than 100 runs. The Three Lions were struggling after they lost five wickets under 170 runs but Ollie Pope took charge and has displayed his batting prowess.

Ollie Pope smashed his fifth century in Test cricket and remained unbeaten on 148 at the end of the third day’s play against India on a spin-friendly track. He was dismissed for just 1 in the first innings by Ravindra Jadeja but he came back and has given the Indian bowlers a headache as he is completely set and is playing very sensible cricket. Ollie Pope threw the Bazball approach and is playing his innings defensively and the plan has worked so far for England’s vice-captain.

Former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha lauded Ollie Pope’s strokeplay in the innings and called it a brave innings as England’s No.3 gave them a chance to fight back in a match that was looking like a one-sided affair. England is leading by 126 runs in the match as they ended at 316/6 at the end of the third day’s play.

“I would call it a brave innings. See you can’t change your skillset in one day, you can only change your mindset and he did that brilliantly showing bravery. He backed the shots he was playing. We were talking about Ben Stokes he went inside a shell but he (Ollie Pope) didn’t go in that shell even then. He was still playing his reverse sweeps, sweeps, stepping out, playing with the merit of the ball and didn’t get trapped in the situation that’s why you’ll see that he is the only batter who flourished,” said Pragyan Ojha on Ollie Pope

Watch- Pragyan Ojha Talks About Ollie Pope’s Innings

#OlliePope‘s first Test hundred against #India 💯👏

How well has #Pope adapted to Indian conditions❓@pragyanojha hails his strokeplay, on #CricbuzzChatter #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/CFYYhoy0ex

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) January 27, 2024

Ollie Pope remained unbeaten on 148 after the third day’s play. He smashed 17 fours in his innings and has played with a strike rate of 71.15. Pope gave England a chance to come back in the match and they can l00k to take a lead of 200 or 250 on the fourth day. He is leading the batting on his own and has performed extremely well in the match after being dismissed for just 1 in the first innings.

England was the last team to win a Test series against India on Indian soil which was back in 2012 when Sir Alastair Cook led England to a 2-1 win against the hosts. They will resume with 326/6 on the board on Day 4 and India will hope to take those four wickets quickly to chase an achievable target in the fourth innings. Currently, Ollie Pope and Rehan Ahmed are on the crease for England.