India vs England: Ollie Pope's magnificent ton on Day 3 breathes life into Hyderabad Test

England began Day 3 of the first Test against India with their hopes of pulling off a victory in Hyderabad having taken a serious battering on Friday, thanks to the trio of Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. At the time of the umpire flicking the bails to signal stumps on Saturday, not only did England erase the huge deficit that they had conceded in the first innings, but were firmly in the lead with four wickets still in hand.

As it happened: India vs England, 1st Test in Hyderabad, Day 3

After playing catch-up with the Indians in the first two days, England managed to breathe life into the ongoing Test with a brilliant all-round display on the ‘Moving Day’. A display that not only ensures that the match goes into the fourth, and possibly the fifth, day but also brings back discussions surrounding an English victory, which appeared implausible at the start of the day’s play.

Joe Root removed Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah in successive deliveries, denying the former his fourth Test hundred and finishing the pick of the English bowlers with figures of 4/79. Rehan Ahmed then grabbed the final wicket by dismissing Axar Patel, resulting in the hosts getting bowled out for 436, adding just 15 runs to their overnight total and finishing with a lead of 190.

There still was plenty of work to be done though. While England they had managed to restrict India’s lead to less than 200, they still were in danger of getting shot out on the third day itself and conceding the series lead to Rohit Sharma and Co with two days left. Ollie Pope, however, had other plans as he produced one of the finest knocks witnessed against India in India in recent memory, and perhaps one that can earn comparisons with Kevin Pietersen’s famous 186 at the Wankhede Stadium in the memorable 2012-13 tour.

Pope’s heroics put England in the driving seat

The English innings was turning out to be fairly similar to their first innings on Day 1. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett had once again got the visitors off to a spanking start before the former became the first batter to depart, getting dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin.

Pope, who had nicked the ball to Rohit at slip off Ravindra Jadeja on Thursday, decided to show intent right away by nicking a double off Ashwin, and it wasn’t long before he would collect his first boundary, driving Axar through cover off a full, wide delivery, giving an indication as to what was in store for the remainder of the day.

He would add 78 for the second wicket with Duckett before the latter was cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah shortly after lunch. Much like Day 1, England would lose wickets in a heap after a strong start, going from 113/1 to 163/5 with captain Ben Stokes falling victim to a beauty from Ashwin.

The Surrey batter had been going strong up until that point, and was fairly well set on 60 off 75 deliveries, collecting seven boundaries along the way, and needed to stay put at his end and play the long innings if he was to give Stokes and Co any chance whatsoever at setting a competitive target on the board.

Pope did precisely that as he, along with wicketkeeper-batter Ben Foakes, began a period of austerity during which the visitors, who’s run rate was nearly six at the end of the morning session, did not collect a single boundary in 70 deliveries. The right-handed batter had been using both the conventional as well as reverse sweep to great effect up until that point to frustrate the spin trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel.

With his steady accumulation of runs towards the end of the second session, Pope highlighted another facet to his batting — that of his ability to wear the opposition out with his patient, wall-like approach. That blockade would be lifted soon after the start of the evening session, when Pope and Foakes decided to hit the gas pedal, not only helping the visitors move into the lead but taking them past the 200-mark.

Pope’s knock on Saturday was a masterclass in the art of nullifying the threat posed by the celebrated Indian spin attack in conducive conditions. The reverse sweep has become somewhat symbolic of England’s attacking approach to batting in the ‘Bazball’ era, with England batters having collected 57 runs with that shot in this Test so far, according to available data. Pope alone has the lion’s share of those runs through this innings and his ability to nail the shot helped throw the spinners’ plans into a state of disarray.

England have scored 57 runs with the reverse sweep so far in this Test – the most in a Test by any team since records began.#INDvENG

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) January 27, 2024

The effect of his assault on Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar was out there for everyone to see. Not only would he go on to bring up a well-deserved ton — his fifth in Tests and his second in Asia since slamming 108 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi — his knock would force the Indians to start committing mistakes.

The likes of Ashwin would end up bowling full tosses while trying to bowl slightly further up the pitch, getting smacked for boundaries as a result. Axar and Jadeja, who was guilty of overstepping several times on Saturday for some reason, would end up bleeding runs at 4.60 and 3.88 respectively while collecting one wicket each.

Had it not been for an outstanding post-lunch spell by Bumrah, where he was able to prise out two wickets in successive overs when the ball was starting to show signs of reversing, the damage could have been even worse for the hosts.

England should justifiably be proud of their effort, especially the special one from Pope. Even if they lose this Test, they might have forced India already to make more spin-conducive pitches next game onwards.
England’s bowling is their bigger worry though#INDvsENG

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) January 27, 2024

Pope, of course, wasn’t done once he brought up his ton and celebrated in emphatic fashion, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. He would even go for a scoop over his head towards the closing stages of the third day, and made the most of a reprieve after being dropped by Axar on 110 off a botched reverse-sweep by adding another 38 runs to his account.

And by remaining unbeaten overnight, he has given England hope of setting India a target in excess of 200, which will be easier said than done for an Indian team batting fourth in deteriorating conditions, even with an English attack that is a little short on experience in the spin department.