Aakash Chopra complimented England’s batters for smart strategy against India’s spin bowlers, making good use of reverse sweeps.
At the end of Day 3 in the first Test against India in Hyderabad, England claimed a position of 316/6 in their second innings. That puts them 126 runs ahead overall. On the pitch are Ollie Pope (148 not out) and Rehan Ahmed (16 not out).
Aakash Chopra praised England’s batters’ ability to play the reverse sweep in a video posted to his YouTube account after the third day of play. He said:
“The first session was entirely in England’s name. Zak Crawley was looking very good. Ben Duckett was a little ungainly at the start but it seems like reverse sweep is the new defense. Everyone was playing the reverse sweep.”
Aakash Chopra
The former India opener named Pope his best player of the day. He elaborated:
“Ollie Pope is actually my performer of the day. He is still unbeaten on 148. I found some things extremely impressive in his game. He played a shot behind the wicketkeeper while looking down, which was different, but he takes a huge stride while defending.”
Aakash Chopra
Pope and Ben Duckett (47) put on a 68-run second-wicket stand after Ravichandran Ashwin removed Zak Crawley. After England were reduced to 163/5 after losing Ben Stokes’ wicket, the No. 3 hitter contributed 112 runs for the sixth wicket with Ben Foakes (34) to take the score to 171.
“He has played with immense belief” – Aakash Chopra on Ollie Pope
Aakash Chopra noticed that Ollie Pope often scored square of the wicket. He stated:
“If you see his wagon wheel, he scored a lot of runs square of the wicket, which means he is using the sweep and reverse sweep very well. He has played with immense belief.”
Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra noticed that Ollie Pope often scored square of the wicket. He stated:
“He has confidence in his defense and a clear and easy game plan – plays hard sweeps and reverse sweeps. He opened up his body during Bumrah’s spell so that the ball wouldn’t hit his front pad at all. He looked a little ungainly against him but he is still there.”
Aakash Chopra
On the other hand, Chopra questioned Ben Stokes’ attitude. He observed that the England captain uses the ‘Bazball’ technique while batting with the lower order, as he did in the first innings, but is exceedingly defensive otherwise.