Ollie Pope singlehandedly won the IND vs ENG 1st Test for England. The right-handed batter from Surrey scored a career-defining 196 with his side trailing by 190 runs. Although he fell short of a double century, it was more than enough for the English bowlers to win the match and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
The next best score from England after his knock was a 70 by Ben Stokes in the first inning. Apart from him and his skipper, no other Englishmen scored a fifty in the match. An innings came when talks of him getting dropped from the side despite being the vice-captain were swirling around.
Also Read
BCCI likely to release IPL 2024 schedule in two phases, first half in India
ICC ignores Rohit Sharma’s plea, WTC Final 2027 set for England after IPL in June
Zee scraps $1.4 Billion ICC TV rights deal with Disney Star
SRH star Shahbaz Ahamad’s vanishing act leaves Bengal fuming, Ranji season in jeopardy
When England finally won and Ollie Pope was rightly fully adjudged as the ‘player of the match’, skipper Ben Stokes came out and lauded the 26-year-old. After the match, Stokes hailed his 196-run knock as the ‘greatest inning’ ever played in the subcontinent by an English batter.
Talking about Ollie Pope’s knock, Stokes said in the post-match interview:
“The situation we found ourselves in, the shots he played, 190 on such a wicket, he was able to manipulate the field; that’s the greatest innings ever played in the subcontinent by an English batter.”
While one may not agree with Stokes’ assessment of Ollie Pope’s match-winning knock, it is hard to argue that it isn’t one of the best knocks by a visiting batter in India.
The post Ben Stokes hails Ollie Pope’s 196 as ‘greatest inning’ by an Englishman in India appeared first on Inside Sport India.