"When I hit that 196, I was like ‘right, I am going to go and have a big series' like Yashasvi Jaiswal had" - Ollie Pope on regrets from India tour
England vice-captain Ollie Pope regrets not making the start to the Indian Test series earlier this year count big like Yashasvi Jaiswal did for the home side. The right-handed batter started the series with a sensational 196 in the second innings to help England pull off a stunning 28-run win.
However, it turned out to be Pope's lone 50+ score in the series as he scored only 119 runs in the other nine innings at an average of under 14. Meanwhile, Jasiwal was the batting star of the five-match affair, finishing with 712 runs at an average of 89 with two centuries and three half-centuries.
Looking back on the tour of India, Pope was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying:
"We felt like there was quite a negative sort of narrative on the team after India, but we always knew winning out there is the biggest challenge in cricket. When I hit that 196, I was like ‘right, I am going to go and have a big series. Like Yashasvi Jaiswal had, trying to score as many as possible. But I probably didn't adapt my game quickly enough to the conditions that were in front of me rather than just the conditions of the first Test."
He added:
"That was a frustration, because when you go into a five-match series, you've got a chance to play yourself into form but you can play yourself out of form too, and in 10 innings in India that's exactly what happened. I felt good a couple of times, got myself in, and if I'd kicked on and made one of those innings an 80 and a couple of them 50 it's completely different. That's the frustrating thing for me - I'm not so annoyed with the low scores, it's more when I get myself in and don't kick on."
After brilliantly winning the first Test, England suffered four consecutive defeats to lose the series 1-4.
However, following the disappointment of the final four Tests in India, Pope put things right in the recent home series against the West Indies. He scored 239 runs at an average of almost 60 with a century and two half-centuries in three Tests.
"My job as a vice-captain is to make his job a little bit easier rather than be a headache for him" - Ollie Pope
Ollie Pope believes it's his job to make things easier for skipper Ben Stokes by providing constructive input and hailed the latter for his ability to listen to the players' opinions.
Stokes took over as permanent Test captain with the side in the doldrums in 2022 and has helped them win 17 of the 26 games since.
"You wouldn’t always think it, but he's good at listening to everyone's opinions. The reason I'm in my role is because I want to be able to challenge him when I see something that I don't think is quite right, and he wants me to challenge him too, rather than just agreeing with everything he says. My job as a vice captain is to make his job a little bit easier rather than be a headache for him," said Pope (as per the aforementioned source).
England will be in action next in the three-Test home series against Sri Lanka, starting August 21.