India vs England: How Ollie Pope used reverse sweep to pass the spin test

As stumps were called on Day 3 at Hyderabad, the groundstaff headed to the pitch with broomsticks to whip off the dust gathered on the rough patches. On the other side, India’s head coach Rahul Dravid, accompanied by batting coach Vikram Rathour, made a hurried walk, to get their eyes before the groundstaff did their part. For a few minutes the duo micro-observed the track, especially the rough patches and inspected the good length area before taking a slow walk back.

It is where it has come down for India. Having undergone enough wear and tear and rough marks all around, either side of the stumps, and a few balls keeping low, how quickly it crumbles could determine India’s fate in Hyderabad. Courtesy an unbeaten 148 from Ollie Pope, England, after conceding a lead of 190 midway through the first session on Saturday, have not only whipped off the deficit, but also have ended Day 3 with a 126-run lead with four wickets in hand. Their total of 316/6 is the first time any visiting team has touched 300 in the second innings since they did at Nagpur in 2012 on the way to a series win.

Of course, the pitch has slowed down considerably, with batsmen able to negate the turn on offer, by coming forward or going back. But fourth innings chases can be tricky, especially with the odd low bounce to go with the natural bounce on offer. What gives India hope is on a pitch where even their spinners couldn’t assert themselves, England’s inexperienced attack would find it even more challenging. Sunday has all the making for a gripping climax, unless England continue their rearguard way into Day 4.

A lot of love from the lads for that @OPope32 innings! 😍 👏

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After the Bazball approach could only fetch 246 in the first essay, with Pope managing to prolong his innings, England are beginning to get grip for the first time on this Test. The man wholly responsible for it is Pope, whose highest score in the previous nine Test innings in India was 35. Coming into the Test, he hadn’t played a first-class match for six months as he had been recovering from a dislocated shoulder – the third he suffered in four years — during the Ashes.

Having looked clueless on Day 1, it was Pope that did the team talk in the morning, according to Root, who though did not delve into the details. “Honestly it’s an absolute masterclass on how to bat in these conditions as an overseas player. For someone not exposed to these surfaces day in and day out and to come back off a serious injury like he had in summer and have that amount of time out of the game and then put together that knock… I’m speechless,” said Root, who picked four wickets.

Reverse-sweeping wonder

If it was Alastair Cook’s doggedness at Eden Gardens and counter-attacking route that Kevin Pietersen took in 2012, Root’s was a textbook manual in 2021. But here Pope resorted to the reverse-sweep as his go-to shot against the spinners. Ben Duckett liberal use of this stroke in the first session would have given him more conviction. But he did so in his own style, living though with an element of risk at all time. Sometimes, he would connect the ball right off his toes. Other times, he would expose all three stumps and reverse-sweep against the turn. He even managed to reverse-scoop it over KS Bharat. According to CricViz, the reverse-sweep alone has fetched England 57 runs so far in the Test.

Root would dwell on the finer aspects of the stroke. “When it is consistent spin you can work out when to take it on, and which balls from which line you can take a risk on. The most important thing is you don’t think you are going to miss at all,” he detailed.

Hyderabad: England’s Ollie Pope acknowledges the crowd as he walks towards the pavilion after the end of play on the third day of the first cricket test match between India and England, at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, in Hyderabad, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

“He did it exceptionally well. It took until 110 to make a small error when he got dropped. There were a couple of balls that ripped past his outside edge but you expect that, it’s part and parcel, almost like in England when it’s swinging and seaming around. You almost give yourself a pat on the back because you’ve not chased it,” Root added

It wasn’t an innings where Pope just took his chances. Immediately after lunch, he had to survive that testing spell from Jasprit Bumrah, wherein he saw Duckett and Root perish. Then he watched Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin clean up Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes. The ones that didn’t turn were beginning to get as dangerous as the ones that turned. So to live through all of it, and still use the reverse-sweep to great conviction, it needed someone to be special. Over the course of Saturday, Pope, highly rated by the Bazballers, repaid the faith while sticking to their identity by building a 112-run stand with Ben Foakes for the sixth wicket. More than the reverse-sweeps, what stood out was how rarely he drove any of the spinners in front of the V, instead being content in defending with full bat.

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Root kept praising Pope. “To manipulate the field as it did against that attack, on that surface, to show the powers of concentration and determination and fitness and skill, all combined was immense,: he said.

“One of the hardest things about batting here is being able to just park things that have happened before and just trust your instincts. Sometimes that’s using pre-meditation, sometimes that’s being able to read it off the wicket, sometimes it’s being able to soak up pressure. I think one of the best parts of his innings was being able to get through that Bumrah reverse-swing spell. It was a really special knock,” Root added.

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