Ollie Pope silences critics with his century

His away series against India last year had started with a bang and ended in a whimper but Ollie Pope has consciously tried to not let discussions about his slot in the playing eleven affect him too much while constructing a stylish century during England's solid first innings reply on the second day of opening Test.

Vice-captain Pope, whose place in the team has been under scanner since his technique got exposed by Jasprit Bumrah and Indian spinners in the 2024 away series, scored a fine 106 in England's first innings score of 465.

For the record, Pope had started with 196 in Hyderabad and then in remaining four Tests, totalled 40 runs.

"I've tried not to let it affect me too much," Pope said at post day press conference on Sunday.

"I've just been trying to make sure my game's in as good a place as possible and when I get in, try to make sure I make the most of it. I've tried to let the outside noise do its thing and make sure my game keeps improving, and that I get my headspace in as good a place as possible too." Pope has tried to bring about a change in his mindset wherein he doesn't feel too hard pressed to reach his first 30 runs and then feel set.

"It's almost just trying my game a little bit more: not feeling like I've got to rush to 30 to then really feel 'in'. It's trying to enjoy the process of building an innings, rather than just, 'I want to get to 30 to then make a big one'...

"It's something I've been working hard on, just generally putting my game in a better place and making sure my defence is as good as it can be." However, the graceful right hander agreed that there is still a long way to go in the marathon five-Test series.

"It's a long series, and there's a lot to be done in this game still as well," he added.

"It's definitely (an innings) that I really enjoyed. It was disappointing not to kick on this morning, but I'm really happy with how I went about it and played, and I'm happy with where my game's at - so hopefully, I can kick on."