England v India: Ollie Pope to bat at number four at Lord's
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
England v India, second Specsavers Test |
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Venue: Lord's Dates: 9-13 August |
Coverage: Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, Radio 4 LW, online, tablets, mobiles and BBC Sport app. Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website. |
Surrey batsman Ollie Pope will make his England debut in the second Test against India at Lord's on Thursday.
Pope, 20, replaces Dawid Malan and will bat at number four, despite usually batting at six for his county.
England will wait to decide on their final XI, with Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes vying for one spot.
"I'm going to keep our options open and make sure that we're really confident we've got the best 11 players to take 20 wickets," said captain Joe Root.
England, who have a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, dropped Malan after the thrilling 31-run win at Edgbaston.
Pope's inclusion means he is the fourth player under the age of 21 to play a Test for England this year, after Mason Crane, Dom Bess and Sam Curran.
He is the second highest run-scorer in Division One of the County Championship, with 684 runs at an average of 85.50.
"We feel he's got a very good game on him that can transfer into Test cricket and be successful at number four," Root told BBC Sport.
"I'm really excited to see him go out there and be himself, more than anything else, and go out and play exactly how he has done."
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Moeen or Woakes?
There was still a hint of green on the Lord's pitch despite the recent hot weather, although it was kept covered for much of Wednesday.
With Ben Stokes absent because of his trial for affray in Bristol, England will have to decide between off-spinner Moeen and all-rounder Woakes to complete the final XI.
Woakes, who featured against Pakistan at Lord's in May, has played just two first-class matches since injuring his right quad and thigh in June.
Moeen took eight wickets for Worcestershire in his last first-class game, including a second innings 5-107, but he has struggled for runs since last summer.
Root took a blow to his hand in the nets while facing Woakes but said he was "absolutely fine" and managed to complete his practice.
"We want to wait and see what it looks like - see if they take any more off that surface and see how dry it is," Root said.
"We'll turn up tomorrow, see if it looks any different and then make that decision."
Root strives for consistency
England have won just four of their past 10 Tests at Lord's, including their nine-wicket defeat by Pakistan in May.
They have struggled for consistency at home under Root, beating South Africa by 211 runs in the first Test at Lord's last year before being thrashed in the next match at Trent Bridge by 240 runs.
Root said that England's tight victory at Edgbaston had "filled me with confidence" as a captain.
"The composure we kept throughout that last morning was outstanding and will hold us in good stead for the rest of the series," he said.
"It's about backing that up now and being more consistent in back-to-back games, and now we've got an opportunity to do that."
The hosts also lost to India on a green pitch at Lord's in 2014, with their batting collapsing on the final day to hand the visitors a 95-run win.
"We still had an opportunity to win that game on the last day and batted poorly," Root added.
"Over the last couple of years we've had a few different surfaces here, so we've kept quite an open mind going into tomorrow.
"I thought we performed exceptionally well with the ball last week and that's a good sign that early in a series."
Kohli gives Pope advice - of sorts
India came close to victory at Edgbaston but, like England, their batting faltered at key moments, despite captain Virat Kohli top-scoring in both innings.
The tourists could play two spinners at Lord's, with either wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav or left-armer Ravindra Jadeja coming into the side.
Kohli admitted Pope, who has played just 15 first-class matches, is a relative unknown for his side.
"I honestly haven't seen him, but I'm sure if he's selected to play Test cricket for England then he's obviously going to be very good," the 29-year-old said.
"For us a side we're focused on all wickets. On a larger front, I'm happy for him that he's been selected.
"I just would say enjoy the occasion - and not get too many runs!"
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Very surprised he's batting at 4 when his position is 6 for Surrey. Puts additional pressure on him. Why not promote the experienced Bairstow and Buttler and let him play in his regular spot?
I hope Pope steps up to the occasion, but let's not jump to judge if he doesn't. He's 20 coming in against a very good Indian side.
Can't help but wonder why they are moving Pope up to bat at 4 though when he bats at 6. Bairstow has shown more than enough class to go in at 4. They seem to think Bairstow can only open or bat at 6.....strange.
Surely, you send batsmen in depending on the situation when a wicket falls.
If you are 20 for 2 send in a batsman who will defend his wicket. If you are 400 for 2 send in a slogger.
If you had a left/right combination batting replace whichever is out like for like.
Rigid adherence to batting order is ridiculous.
I hope being at 4 will not destroy his confidence, or his future England appearances, if he has a bad match.
At least, being a wicket keeper, he should be able to catch the ball!
...
Would it be the same off-spinner Moeen who was initially chosen as a batsman, even forced to open and described as someone who couldn't bowl spin. Wow, how times change, now the poor man isn't even seen as an all rounder by BBC, which he is.
(Probably around similar ranking as stokes!)
The real issue is getting 100 plus before we lose 2 wickets
Cook
Jennings
Root
Pope
Bairstowe
Butler
Woakes
Curran
Rashid
Broad
Anderson
I wish him the best of luck as I think he'll need it!
However, given that Root is a more than adequate spinner, I expect Woakes to get the nod.
I am a tad concerned that the pressure of batting at 4 is being added into the equation, given it’s almost an openers position for England, when he does not do this for Surrey.
Best of luck to him but it might be fairer to put him at 5 or 6.