Ollie Pope said it was his role as vice-captain to ensure Ben Stokes “doesn’t push himself to a ridiculous place” as the captain battles a groin injury that forced him to seek treatment towards the end of the first day of the third Test against India.
After receiving attention from the physio with just under an hour to play, the captain’s movement was noticeably impaired for the remainder of the final session, but he played on as England reached stumps on 251 for four. There are no plans to send him for scans, the hope being that he will recover overnight and, alongside Joe Root – who is unbeaten on 99 – “really kick on and make it a score north of 400, towards 500”.
“Fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious, but we’ve got a big test over the next four days and a big day two coming up as well, so it is important to try and manage him,” said Pope, who scored a scratchy 44 before being dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja with the first ball after tea.
“But it is one of my roles to make sure that he doesn’t push himself to a ridiculous place with whatever he’s dealing with at the moment. I’m sure the physios and medics will work with him to lay out a plan, and then I’ll help push him in the right direction.”
At 3.02 runs per over, England’s innings currently ranks as their third slowest under Stokes’s permanent captaincy, as the nature of the pitch and the accuracy of India’s bowlers forced them to rein in their attacking instincts.
“It’s not necessarily the way we’re used to going about it but I think it’s a pretty good score,” Pope said. “Of course we’d have liked to be 400 for four, but the surface didn’t allow that at all, and the Indian attack did bowl well.
It’s something we’re trying to keep developing as a team … it’s something I’m working on in my game as well, not just scoring runs in quick style, it’s also when the time is right to absorb some pressure.
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“Hopefully next time I can kick on and make it a big one, even if it does take a little bit longer.”
