Credit: ICC
In the first innings of the opening Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, when England lost their opener Zak Crawley in the first over, the top order batters Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope got the big task of stabilising their team in the contest. Against India's in-form pacer Jasprit Bumrah, they looked shaky in the initial phase of their innings, with both getting put down on his bowling, but they held their nerves and more than settled at the crease. Duckett and Pope removed pressure from the team by scoring boundaries in regular intervals. In the 22nd over, Duckett hit a magnificent four against Ravindra Jadeja and brought up his 14th red-ball fifty.
After tea, Ollie Pope also raised his bat for completing his 16th Test fifty. Eventually, Bumrah stepped up and broke their partnership by cleaning up Duckett, who concluded his innings after scoring 62 off 94. Both batters stitched a 122-run stand and rescued their team after a poor start.
Ollie Pope looking to reach three-figure score vs India
Ollie Pope has looked confident during his innings. The right-handed batter has played through an aggressive approach. He has grabbed the opportunities by punishing poor deliveries from India bowlers. England will expect him and Joe Root to stand at the crease until the end of the day.
Veteran Root will endeavour to put pressure on India bowlers and better his record against the visitors. In India’s previous Test tour to England, Root caused a headache to Team India bowlers and emerged as the leading run-getter with 737 runs in nine innings of five games. He will look to dominate Team India bowlers again. To go close to India’s 471 runs, England will expect their mainstay batter Harry Brook to showcase his best. Brook has played only one game and in that too, he didn’t get a chance to bat.
