Ollie Pope’s century against India was his greatest innings yet, writes Ben Gardner.
When Ollie Pope’s century at Hyderabad is re-lived in years to come – and no matter what happens from here on, it will go down as one of the greats – the defining image will be of him crouched, head down, the ball still not quite yet scooped over his own head. It was a startling piece of daring creativity on its own, but it also encapsulates what made this hundred, a career-maker and hope-giver and, who knows, maybe a match-turner, quite so special. Pope had already captured the picture so precisely, traced the outcomes and the potentialities so perfectly, that by the time it came to make contact, he no longer needed to look. Everything was exactly as he had anticipated.
This was the aspect of Pope’s wonder-knock that stood out most of all. It was those shots behind square on the off-side, displaying a startling clarity of thought, and tempered judgement in every sense. Judgement of length, with interception point groupings on the back foot, front foot and down the track, with clear daylight between each. Judgement of line, with that reverse sweep unfurled as soon as he spotted the ball outside off-stump, and rarely otherwise. Judgement of the field, with the exact variety of reverse – ‘conventional’ or with a switched stance or scooped – dependent on where Rohit Sharma had positioned his men. Judgement of bowler, with the bravery to take on R Ashwin at better than a run a ball, playing the ball, spinning into him, and not the man, one of Test cricket’s greatest. And judgement of situation, sensing when to press and when to hold, switching gears almost imperceptibly.
This is new for Pope. He is a player of great talent, and has shown that in patches in his Test career so far. But there is a reason why he came into this game averaging less than 35 from 38 Tests, and why, had Harry Brook not been forced to miss this Test, that it might have been him to make way to solve England’s eight-into-seven batting conundrum. If you had to pin it down to one thing, it would have been his powers of calculation. Pope is technically proficient, has an appetite for big scores, and all the shots a modern batter could ask for. That reverse-stance reverse-sweep was an evolution of a wrong-footed sweep concocted mid-innings against Rashid Khan, a mark of his precocity, his powers of invention and execution. But that, at times, has been his burden, figuring out exactly which shot to play at a given moment, which approach to take to a given situation, where to stand and when to shuffle. When he has a guide and a familiar set of circumstances, he can fly. This time, he was out on his own.
Before this Test, he averaged 48 in the first innings of Tests, when the tone is to be set and a player can bat as they please, and 16 in the second, when the game is laid out as a problem to be solved, and the conditions start to turn to preclude certain strokes. This time, with the pitch spitting and keeping low, with England behind in the game but with time to spare, he worked it out. Before this Test, he had never made a Test century without another batter also making one in the same innings. This time, no one else made fifty, Pope with 149 more than Ben Duckett’s 47.
"It's the sort of innings that is in the same breath, you'd say, as Pietersen at Mumbai." 🔥@Yas_Wisden on Ollie Pope's stunning 148* in Hyderabad and why it's the perfect example of what Bazball is all about.#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/bkC5InSW00
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 27, 2024
“It’s just one of the best knocks that I’ve ever seen,” said Joe Root at stumps on day three, without a trace of hyperbole. “I think that’s the benchmark.” Pope’s innings joined the ranks of Kevin Pietersen at Mumbai at 2012 and Steve Smith at Pune in 2017 as one of the great touring efforts on Indian soil.
Credit must be paid too to England’s management, with this innings one in the eye for the ‘Bazbollocks’ naysayers. Pope was under pressure here. He had looked as uncomfortable as it is possible to across 11 balls in the first innings, the kind of knock that makes you look back at his struggles past. Ollie Robinson spoke of England’s “scarring” at the hands of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel last time out, and Pope was as hacked away at as any of them. He averaged less than 20, making only five more runs in eight innings than he did on day three alone. His subpar record against Australia and India overall, with one fifty in 25 hits against both, had also come in for scrutiny. How, given all that, could he come out and play with such freedom and such decisiveness? Only by feeling trusted and empowered.
Their much-derided preparation allowed Pope to heal as well. England’s coaches prepared ragging, dry pitches on a training camp in the UAE and gave their batters one rule: “No complaining”. If you got beaten, you got on with it. Pope played and missed in this innings, but he played nonetheless.
Even if India recover to victory, with Pope having dragged England to parity but not yet the ascendancy, the feeling of the series has changed. India have lost three home Tests in a decade. They are not used to being put under this kind of pressure, not this deep into the game. This was the first time a touring side had crossed 300 in the second innings since 2012. They looked clueless at times, listless. Each time the edge was missed, there was no cackle and whoop, just disappointment that another quarter-chance had gone begging. When the ball kept low, there was no celebration, just worries about what was to come.
Whatever happens, from hereon, India will fear England. And they will fear Pope most of all.
