England vice-captain Ollie Pope said that his team will not complain if India provides surfaces that would offer spin from the first ball during their five-match Test tour of India, which begins on January 25. The Ben Stokes-led squad will face their most difficult test in red-ball cricket since his tenure as test captain.
In recent years, England has had great success in test cricket by playing an aggressive brand of cricket in the longer format of the game. Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have pushed their players to express themselves and let their guard down. The Men in Blue will have one of the great spin-bowling lineups for the five-match series which would challenge the England batters.
Speaking to “The Guardian”, Ollie Pope did not deny that the sort of pitches offered in India will be a big topic of discussion during the series, revealing that they would leave more grass in England to favour the seamers for bowling.
“There will be a lot of outside noise. And pitches can be a massive talking point. But you have to remember the two teams are playing on the exact same wicket, so we just need to be as well-equipped as we can.”
“In England, we might leave more grass on the pitch to suit our amazing seamers, so it’s no surprise if India do the same to suit their spinners,” Ollie Pope said
In the red-ball format of the game, India’s hard spin-friendly conditions will put Ben Stokes and his team’s aggressive style of play to the ultimate test. Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav will compete for three slots in the playing 11 and can significantly impact the team in home conditions.
If The Pitches Spin From Ball One We Won’t Be Complaining – Ollie Pope
Ollie Pope believes that low-scoring test matches are interesting to watch, and he has stated that the series between India and South Africa is particularly interesting. He also remarked that the team would not complain about the wickets in India if they provided spin from the first ball.
“I actually think low-scoring Test matches (where the ball has the edge over the bat) are pretty amazing to watch. I saw a fair bit of South Africa versus India and it was great: guys scoring seriously tough runs and the ball flying through”.
“The scores could be similar in India but if the pitches spin from ball one we won’t be complaining. It’s about finding a method to combat it,” Ollie Pope added.
Ben Stokes-led side was criticized for not allowing enough time to acclimatize to Indian conditions before the series. The English contingent faces a critical challenge in this Test series and the team will be trying to lead England to their first red-ball series victory in India since 2012.