After England’s vice-captain Ollie Pope scored a magnum opus of 196 runs in the opening Test match against India at Hyderabad, he has veered off the track. In the remaining eight innings, Pope has managed 100 runs and thus has failed to deliver the goods.
Pope has scored 296 runs in nine innings of the ongoing series at an average of 32.89. The right-hander was dismissed after scoring 11 runs in the first innings of the fifth Test match at Dharamsala on Thursday.
Pope shimmied down the wicket against Kuldeep Yadav but could not read the googly and was stumped by Dhruv Jurel, who rightly predicted that he could advance down the wicket even before Yadav bowled.
Pope has looked jittery at the start of his innings in the ongoing series and England’s assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said he has been working hard on his game.
“He’s adapted really well in certain conditions and certain parts of his game,” Trescothick told BBC Sport.
“The more he’s tested and plays in these environments and tougher conditions, he’s going to improve. After that 196 in the first game, we saw a vast improvement. It’s just keeping growing that and encouraging that and he’ll be a better player for it.”
The former England opener added Pope is improving his game and has been giving his absolute best.
“Ollie has his own little things he is trying to improve,” said former England opener Trescothick. “Getting into an innings is always challenging over here, as is facing high-quality spin.”
“That is part of his game he is looking to improve on. I think we’d all agree that after his 196 in Hyderabad, we had seen an improvement and we saw parts of his game that are definitely getting better.”
“Let’s keep allowing that to happen. The more we knock down and put pressure on people, the challenges will come. He’s definitely improving, as are many other players in our team,” said Trescothick.
India are currently 315-3, leading by 97 runs on the second day’s afternoon.
