Pope The Great Reviewer
Author: Tom Penn
Updated At:
It had become something of a joke and something to beat Ollie Pope up about whenever he went through a lean patch with the bat, but finally, on Thursday, Ben Stokes' stand in replacement as skipper successfully overturned an umpire's decision!
With Stokes sitting out this match with a shoulder injury and watching from the balcony, there was delight, relief and plenty of laughing from the England camp when Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed.
Pope Finally Gets One Right
Ollie Pope will never be Ben Stokes and it must always be tough for him when he comes in as captain for only a few or a one-off Test and is inevitably compared to his boss.
Where Stokes is vastly experienced, Pope is still a relative novice at 27 and the years of highs and lows, not to mention his demeanor, character and ability, makes it far easier for Stokes to strut around the pitch marshalling his troops.
So when Pope failed with his first 13 reviews in the field as skipper, it was pounced upon as evidence of his unsuitability for the role.
England and Pope will hope that getting the 'monkey of his back' allows him to flourish in the job while his side press for a series victory.
Can Captain Pope Secure The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy
After winning the toss on Thursday, Pope will be pleased with his side's work in the field and will be targeting early wickets to open up the weak Indian tail once again.
England need only to draw this Test to win the series whereas India must win the game to level the series so the pressure remains on the tourists going into day two on 204/6.
With Chris Woakes sporting an injured shoulder, getting consistency out of Josh Tongue and wickets from Jamie Overton could be a tough task for Pope although his Surrey team-mate Gus Atkinson was mightily impressive on his return to the side on Thursday.
Tips To Begin Day Two
Four of India's six wickets were caught on day one but the other was LBW (successfully reviewed by England) and bowled.
- Next dismissal 'LBW' - 6.50
- Next dismissal 'Bowled' - 4.50
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