India in rethink after Pope cracks spin code
England vice-captain Ollie Pope’s batting masterclass in the opening Test in Hyderabad has jolted India into a rethink of their plans ahead of the second Test in Visakhapatnam this week.
The hosts suffered only their fourth defeat in a home Test in the past decade after Pope smashed 196 in arguably the best knock by a touring batter in India.
The right-hander played audacious scoops and numerous sweep shots — both traditional and reverse — to disrupt the rhythm of the Indian spinners and forcing the hosts to alter their field placements.
Pope’s approach was a refreshingly change from that adopted by most touring batters, who often try just to hang around and hope for success.
India head coach Rahul Dravid was amazed at how Pope nailed so many “high-risk shots” and acknowledged they would have to put a plan together for the batter before the second Test gets under way on Friday.
“I haven’t seen a better exhibition of sweeping and reverse sweeping in these conditions against that quality of bowling,” the former skipper said after their defeat.
“Having said that, for us now it’s important that we respond and come up with some plans and some strategies and see how we can maybe make him play those shots from probably even more difficult lengths.”
India’s spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel claimed a combined 14 of the 20 English wickets, but Dravid felt they could have bowled better.
“Credit to him [Pope], but we were a little bit off.
“In the next Test match, if we get our execution right, I hope he makes a mistake.”
Pope’s 21 fours included a nolook reverse ramp shot, the batter scooping the ball over wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat’s head to the boundary. The 26-year-old said playing reverse sweep in India was a safer and more profitable option than trying to defend the ball with the obvious risk of edging it to the slip.
“The guys we are facing are very skilled bowlers,” Pope told reporters after their 28-run victory. “If you try to defend each ball, there’s probably more chance to get out than if you play a cross-batted shot.
“If we can keep nailing them [reverse sweeps], we get more bad balls.
“As batters, if we can hit their best ball for four with a reverse sweep, that is going to lead to more short balls and more halfvolleys and open up the outfield.”
India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul will miss the second Test against England due to injuries, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said on Monday.
The BCCI has called up Sarfaraz Khan, Sourabh Kumar and Washington Sundar to replace them.
“Jadeja sustained a hamstring injury during play on day 4 of the first Test while Rahul complained of a right quadriceps pain,” the BCCI said.
Medium pacer Avesh Khan, who has previously represented India in limited-overs cricket, has also been named in the squad but has not been asked to immediately join the national team.
“Avesh Khan will continue to travel with his Ranji Trophy team Madhya Pradesh and will join the test squad if required,” the BCCI added.
The second test is set to begin in Visakhapatnam on Friday.