Ollie Pope put on a show with the bat on Day 3 of the opening Test against India at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
After conceding a first-innings lead of 190 runs, England were struggling at 165/5 in their second essay. Just when the visitors were staring at innings defeat, Pope stepped up to the plate.
The right-hander batted aggressively to put the Indian bowlers on the backfoot. He added 112 runs for the sixth wicket with Ben Foakes to ensure that the tourists were in the lead.
Pope stayed unbeaten on 148 off 208 balls to take England to 316/6 at stumps on Day 3, establishing a significant lead of 126 runs for the visitors in the second innings.
After the close of play, England’s ace batter Joe Root lauded Ollie Pope's brilliance with the bat in alien Indian conditions.
"Honestly it's an absolute masterclass on how to bat in these conditions as an overseas player. Someone that's not exposed to these surfaces day in day out and to come back off a serious injury like he had in summer and have that amount of time out of the game and then put together that... I'm speechless," Root told reporters.
"It's one of the best knocks that I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of cricket. To witness that today was really special. I'm so, so pleased for him," he added.
The highlight of Pope’s unbeaten knock was the sweeps, reverse sweeps and switch hits he executed against the Indian spinners.
However, Root, who himself is a fine exponent of such shots, conceded that Pope's knock had shifted the standards.
"I'm not any more. I think that's the benchmark," Root said. "I might have scored a few runs in the sub-continent. But not on a surface like that against an attack like that. Honestly, that was really special today and it gives a lot of confidence to the rest of the group as well."
Pope’s knock reminded Root of special knocks played by Alastair Cook (176 in Ahmedabad) and Kevin Pietersen (186 in Mumbai) on Indian soil back in 2012.
"They're all very different. I think you sit here very emotional being part of today and how things have gone. The cramps, soreness, the fatigue, the pressure moments when we lost clusters of wickets, I just think it had everything."
Ollie Pope, 26, is playing his 39th Test in Hyderabad. He has amassed more than 2300 runs with five centuries to his name in the longest format of the game.
(With AFP Inputs)
