Ollie Pope's teammates tell him he won't be able to replicate Hyderabad innings in his career

Ollie Pope scored 196 off 278 deliveries in the second innings of the first Test against India in Hyderabad. His knock helped England set up a 231-run target for India and the visitors won the match by 28 runs.

Pope scored 1 off 11 balls in the first innings and it was his innings that helped England make a turnaround in the second innings. Pope added crucial partnerships first with Ben Duckett (47) and then with Ben Foakes (34), Rehan Ahmed (28), and Tom Hartley (34) to take England to a mammoth second-innings score.

He fell just four short of his second double-hundred in Test cricket but by then did the job for his team. He won the Man of the Match award for his knock against India. England Cricket’s official Twitter handle shared a video of Pope talking about his knock and the first Test win.

“Guys are telling me I won’t play a better knock, and that’s absolutely fine. I was really happy with that. I’ve had a long time out—seven months. So, to come back and do this on the big stage in India is head and shoulders above anything I have done. What a win! It’s probably not quite sunk in what we have done yet. That’s a brilliant Indian side that we have beaten on home soil in their conditions. To come back from where we did is an unbelievable achievement. Probably one of our best, if not the best” Pope said.

Pope’s innings was praised by both the Indian and the English commentators. He applied the sweep and the reverse sweep to a great extent to smother the spin from the Indian spinners. His knock was a mix of caution and aggression that worked wonders in the end. Pope said that playing the reverse sweep was a clear approach from the England batters especially in the second innings.

We Had A Clear Approach In Second Innings: Ollie Pope

“We all had a pretty clear approach. The two boys at the top were unbelievable. They really sort of eased the nerves there. I saw the reverse sweeps and shots down the ground. That sort of took the pressure off me a little bit. We said we are going to use our reverse sweep as defence sometimes because it is spinning so much” the England batter added.

Pope was dismissed in the first innings as he edged one to slips to Rohit Sharma off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. Heading into the second innings, he spoke about covering his off-stump in the post-match presentation. He further said that he played the sweep and the reverse sweep with a positive mindset to counter the spin threat from the Indian spinners.

“First up, I was at peace with getting out caught at slip like I did in the first. I was focused on covering the inside edge. I knew that was the real danger ball. I maintained that mindset and really wanted to be positive with my sweep and reverse sweep. I have changed my technique slightly for this series specifically. I had a shoulder surgery, so I had a long time to prepare for this series. Made some adjustments, worked hard on my game” said Pope in his post-match interaction.

The second Test between India and England starts on February 2 in Vishakapatnam. India needs to win the Test match to bring parity in the five-match series after going down in the first Test.

Also Read: Massive blow for team India as Ravindra Jadeja to be ruled out of 2nd Test vs England in all likeliness