England Test vice-captain Ollie Pope said that it is a huge challenge to face ace India pacer Jasprit Bumrah. His words come ahead of the five-Test series between the two sides, which begins on June 20 in Leeds.

The full impact of Bumrah's genius was felt by Ollie Pope during last year's Visakhapatnam Test. Bumrah's magic was recorded in a photograph taken at that same time, with Pope unsteady on his feet, frantically trying to jam down on the delivery, and only one stump remaining.

“Yeah, it's a challenge. I think I’ve played him in probably three different series now, and you’re constantly trying to find ways to put him under some pressure. I mean, he can bowl 20 overs in a day — that’s a lot. So, the way we talk about cricket is, you want to absorb pressure when needed, and then, if necessary, try to put a guy under a little bit of pressure.

But that doesn’t mean trying to smash him to the boundary. It could just be a rotating strike. If he’s bowling a good spell, I’m thinking, ‘Right, how can I get off strike?’ And my partner’s thinking the same, so he doesn’t get six balls at you in a row and use all his skills. He’s a highly skilled bowler, one of the best in the world, if not the best,” Pope said about Bumrah in an interview with TalkSport Cricket.

“There’s no hiding behind that. But I’m sure everyone has different methods to try and nullify his main threats, and figure out their scoring areas. It’s really about keeping it as simple as possible,” he added.

In a podcast with Jos Buttler, former England pacer Stuart Broad also acknowledged that Bumrah's fitness might determine the outcome of the series and that England would prefer if he did not play all five Test matches. Bumrah has stated that he is currently aiming for three tests, although workload management may cause him to change his mind.