"There are not many English performances for which you will say 'wow'" - Aakash Chopra picks Ollie Pope's knock as 2nd best performance of the series
Aakash Chopra has picked Ollie Pope's 196-run knock in the first Test in Hyderabad as the second-best performance from the recently concluded series between India and England.
England trailed India by 190 runs heading into their second innings in the series opener. However, Pope's belligerent knock took the visitors to 420 in their second essay and they eventually won the game by 28 runs to take a surprising lead in the five-match series.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra picked Pope's knock at No. 2 among his top six performances from the series.
"At No. 2, I have kept Ollie Pope's performance. There are not many English performances for which you will say 'wow'. When you win the series, you ignore such performances, but it would be unfair," he said (2:55).
The former India opener placed the England vice-captain's knock on a high pedestal.
"If you concede a 190-run lead and then a guy plays a nearly 200-run knock, he was absolutely outstanding. It was like a shock to us. You cannot forget that knock at all. One of the best knocks by any overseas batter while playing in India in Test cricket," Chopra stated.
However, Pope had a poor run in the series after his match-winning knock in Hyderabad. The right-handed batter aggregated 315 runs at an average of 31.50 in 10 innings in the series and had 39 as his second-best effort.
"That was different" - Aakash Chopra picks Jasprit Bumrah's spell in Vizag as the best performance
Aakash Chopra chose Jasprit Bumrah's spell of 6/45 in 15.5 overs in England's first innings of the Visakhapatnam Test as the best performance of the series.
"At No. 1, I have kept Jasprit Bumrah's performance in Vizag because that was different. That was amazing, that spell of 15.5 overs where he picked up six wickets on an absolutely flat pitch where your spinners were actually struggling slightly," he elaborated (1:50).
While lauding Bumrah for his first-innings dismissals of Ollie Pope and Joe Root, the cricketer-turned-commentator noted that the right-arm seamer bowled a crucial spell in the second essay as well.
"The ball he bowled to Ollie Pope is one for the keeps. It's something you will remember for many years. The way he dismissed Joe Root was absolutely incredible. To be fair, if he had not taken three wickets in the second innings as well, India wouldn't have won the match that easily," Chopra added.
Bumrah castled Pope with an immaculate yorker and had Root caught by Shubman Gill at first slip. He followed up his six-wicket haul with a spell of 3/46 in 17.2 overs in the second innings to help India register a series-equaling 106-run win.