Image Credit- BCCI
Rahul Dravid said he hadn’t seen “a better
exhibition of sweeping and reverse sweeping ever in these conditions, against
that quality of bowling”. Rohit Sharma called it “one of the best
that I’ve seen in Indian conditions by an overseas batter”. And Ben Stokes
described it as “the greatest innings played in the subcontinent by an
English batsman”.
Ollie Pope’s 196-run innings, which helped England
overturn a 190-run deficit in the first innings to win by 28 runs on the fourth
evening, was the driving force behind England’s stunning comeback triumph over
India in Hyderabad. It was even more amazing considering that he had to have
surgery for a shoulder injury he had acquired during the Ashes, which kept him
out of the game for seven months.
Pope claimed of his fifth Test century that it was
“head and shoulders above the other four” and that India was
“probably the toughest place for a batter to come at the minute”. He
scored 34 runs at the top of four innings on England’s most recent tour of the
nation in 2021, and he claimed to have improved his technique during his
return.
“I’ve tinkered throughout my career so far,”
Pope said. “I’ve changed my technique slightly for this series
specifically. I had shoulder surgery, so I’ve had a long time to prepare for
this series and make some adjustments to what I produced the last time we were
here three years ago. I’ve worked hard on my game and tried to tailor my
technique for these conditions.”
Pope was caught at slip for 1, prodding at Ravindra
Jadeja, in the first innings. “We played on some pretty extreme wickets
last time around and you realise that there’s always going to be one danger.
For me, that was the outside edge,” he said. “If the ball is turning
away from me, someone nicks me off and I get caught at slip, I’ve got to be at
peace with that.
Stokes and Brendon McCullum, England’s coach, have
consistently told players that there will be no recriminations if they are out
playing attacking shots. “We practise those shots enough and if you get
out for none playing a reverse sweep you’re not going to get a load of chat in
the changing room about that,” Pope said. “You can go and commit to
it.
“I don’t think I nailed my first 20-odd runs, I
was thinking ‘why is it not hitting the middle of the bat’. But then out here
it could be as safe as playing a defence, a sweep or reverse sweep. If we can
keep nailing them we get more bad balls as batters if we can hit their best
ball for four with a reverse sweep. That is going to lead to more short balls
and more half-volleys and open up the outfield.”