Joe Root praises Ollie Pope for his stupendous test knock against India

Joe Root, Ollie Pope (Pic: File Pic)

England's star batsman Joe Root said Ollie Pope's 148 on Saturday set a new benchmark in Indian conditions after the tourists bounced back on day three of the IND vs ENG 1st Test. They were struggling at 163 for the loss of five wickets before Pope made the day of his own in Hyderabad.

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Pope dominated the Indian spinners and was shouldered by the wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. The duo milked 112 runs with England ending the day on 316 for the loss of six wickets. The Indian bowling attack was left searching for answers after the early wickets. "Honestly it's an absolute masterclass on how to bat in these conditions as an overseas player," Root told reporters. "Someone that's not exposed to these surfaces day in day out and to come back off a serious injury like he had in summer and have that amount of time out of the game and then put together that... I'm speechless."

Joe Root who registered 11,000 runs in 136 test matches also added that, "It's one of the best knocks that I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of cricket. "To witness that today was really special. I'm so, so pleased for him." After losing the wickets of start batters, Pope took the responsibility on his shoulders and smashed his fifth test century and first against India.

'That was really special'

Root's own mastery of the sweep and reverse has seen him successfully counter-spin on sub-continent tracks, but he said Pope's knock had shifted the standards. "I'm not any more.

I think that's the benchmark," Root said. "I might have scored a few runs in the sub-continent. But not on a surface like that against an attack like that. Honestly, that was really special today and it gives a lot of confidence to the rest of the group as well."

Root was taken back to some special knocks by Alastair Cook (176 in Ahmedabad) and Kevin Pietersen (186 in Mumbai), both when England last won a Test series in India in 2012. "They're all very different.

I think you sit here very emotional being part of today and how things have gone. The cramps, soreness, the fatigue, the pressure moments when we lost clusters of wickets, I just think it had everything." Vice-captain Pope, 26, is playing his 39th Test since his debut in 2018, having scored more than 2,000 runs with a personal best of 205. He missed part of the Ashes series at home last year with a dislocated shoulder and Hyderabad is his first Test in more than six months