Saturday, October 05, 2024
Advertisement
  1. You Are At:
  2. News
  3. Sports
  4. Other
  5. 'Captain' Ollie Pope determined to make strong comeback as 'batter' after string of low scores

'Captain' Ollie Pope determined to make strong comeback as 'batter' after string of low scores

Ollie Pope is copping a fair amount of criticism from several cricket pundits for his dry run with the willow in hand since taking up the reins of Test captaincy in the absence of regular skipper Ben Stokes.

Edited By: Kumar Rupesh @afiestysoul New Delhi Published on: September 02, 2024 10:27 IST
Ollie Pope.
Image Source : GETTY IMAGES Ollie Pope.

Ollie Pope has come under fire for his string of low scores in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka but the stand-in captain wants to learn from this phase and "move on".

While Pope has done well as captain in the two Tests against Sri Lanka, he has aggregated just 30 runs across four innings.

Though England are leading the three-match series 2-0, Pope is copping a lot of criticism for not leading by example.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan labelled Pope as "an insecure human being" and also said that he doesn't see him as the next England captain.

"I don't like him as the captain," Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast. "He's not the kind of personality I'd want as the England captain.

"He's quite an insecure human being - a great team guy and person but throwing the captaincy on him has added the pressure. He was doing great at number three.

"Harry Brook for me is an England captain in the making. I don't see Ollie Pope as that person."

Pope confessed that he is "not surprised" by the criticism that has come his way and also revealed that he had got a fair amount of idea about it following a chat with Ben Stokes before the series.

"I'm not surprised," Pope was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "Chatting to Stokesy before this series, when you're captain as well, you're going to attract a lot more (criticism). To be honest, it is just important to block it out and keep staying close with the people around you. There's a lot of voices, a lot of guys who want to have their say - some past cricketers as well - and that's completely fine.

"Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but it's important for us as a team and me to stay and keep trusting the people in the four walls, because that's not going to help me get back into my best form. Sometimes, when you have two bad games, it can feel a lot worse than it is because of the noise that's surrounding it."

"For me, it's just trying to stay as level as I can and keep on trusting the people around me, putting my work in, and not really overthinking it, to be honest. When I went and made good runs in that West Indies series, that's exactly what I was playing like, so there's no real need for me to get too involved in what people are saying."

Advertisement

Read all the Breaking News Live on indiatvnews.com and Get Latest English News & Updates from Sports and Other Section

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement