India will take on England in a five-match Test series starting from Wednesday, 4 August, with the first Test will be played at Trent Bridge. 

England has already seen a few setbacks, as Ben Stokes pulled out of the Test series a couple of days back, and now middle-order batsman Ollie Pope has said that he is hoping to get fit before the first Test.

The young batsman suffered a quad injury and with about 48 hours for the first Test to begin, he can only hope to be fit in time. 

"I've been hitting a lot of balls just trying to get as much running as I can do as possible and I guess in a day or two a decision will be made. I'm hopeful, but I guess it's up to physios and management to manage the risk of it,” Ollie Pope said, reported ESPNCricinfo.

"At the time it was a grade three tear, but I think it looked worse on the scan because I played a couple of T20s on it - after I'd done it - so the swelling was worse than a grade three. Then it's just about how I'm sprinting - I'm feeling it a little bit but nothing major. It's just trying to make sure if I did play this one there's not going to be issued for the next four if selected," he added.

Pope put the injury down on Surrey's domestic schedule. He played five T20 matches in the last eight days and had not played any cricket for a while before that as he had to quarantine.

Monty Panesar pulls out of PCB’s league in PoK; explains his decision to quit

"With the schedule, I think we played five T20s in seven [eight] days after I had to do 10 days sitting on the couch isolating as a close contact. Going from 10 days on a couch to five games in seven days is always going to provide a little risk. It is frustrating but hopefully, I'll sort this quad out and that's the end of it,” he added.

Ollie Pope has set high expectations among fans and critics but has failed to live up to it in his international career so far. Earlier this English summer, questions were asked about his batting technique.

He has now adopted a shuffle movement which has paid off in County cricket and he averaged 60 for Surrey. 

"With that technique that I use, I think I average 60-odd for Surrey this year batting like that against international bowlers, so there's obviously some sort of use behind it as well. Everyone has got their opinions which is absolutely fine, but you've got to know your game better than everyone else,” he said. 

Speaking about Ben Stokes’ decision to prioritize his mental health, Pope said that the team was behind him and wished him a speedy recovery. 

"Stokesy is one of, if not the, best all-rounder in the world so you're always going to miss him if he's not playing. But we're well behind him with that decision and I wish him to be the best he can as soon as he can,” he concluded. 

(Inputs: ESPNCricinfo)