Pope to make his debut for England
Oliver Pope, 20, is set make his debut for the England national cricket team during their second Test against India. He has been drafted into the team to replace Dawid Malan.
England Test skipper Joe Root, at the pre-match conference, confirmed that the Surrey batsman has been included in the playing eleven. Pope will also take up Malan’s position in the batting order.
“Ollie Pope will come in and bat at four,” said Root.
Pope has played a total of 15 first-class matches, amassing 1012 runs at 63.25. He has four centuries and three-half centuries to his name in the multi-day format.
Pope’s Surrey teammate Sam Curran, another 20-year-old, was the latest debutant for England when they hosted Pakistan for a two-Test series. Curran made 87 runs and bagged five wickets across the innings in the first Test and helped his team win the match by 31 runs. The second match will be held at Lord’s, on Thursday (August 9).
Ben Stokes will also miss the second match and Root is yet to confirm whether Moeen Ali or Chris Woakes will replace the all-rounder.
India, on the other hand, have confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will not be part of the team in the second Test.
“Jasprit Bumrah is bowling fit right now but I think it's too early to put him into a game-like situation because, I think, he needs to come out of the band-aid/plaster on his hand. For the second Test, he is out of contention,” India bowling coach Bharat Arun told the reporters on Tuesday.
