Victim of Bumrah’s ‘greatest yorker’, England batter Ollie Pope outlines plan against Indian quick in Test series

Once a victim of his ‘greatest yorker’ that still comes across while scrolling social media, England batter Ollie Pope has outlined a plan to tackle Indian quick Jasprit Bumrah in the upcoming Test series. Pope, who retained his place ahead of rookie all-rounder Jacob Bethell and will play at number three, spoke on how he wants to ‘rotate the strike and get to the other end’ quickly so that Bumrah doesn’t bowl six balls to him at a stretch.

While Pope has come up against Bumrah nine times in Tests, facing 186 balls and scoring 86 runs, he has been out to him five times; besides, the rotation of strike hasn’t been the best ploy against him as Pope has played 140 of those deliveries as dot balls, scoring in the remaining 46.

“Maybe getting my trigger in a bit earlier just to give myself a bit more time,” Pope said in a chat with England’s The Times. “He’s one of those bowlers that, with his action and where he releases it from, doesn’t necessarily clock the high speeds that some of the guys clock, but it certainly feels like it’s that bit quicker. With the skills he’s got as well, it’s being aware of that.”

Meanwhile, speaking with TalkSport earlier, Pope explained why it’s always a challenge to face Bumrah, let alone try to hit him. The right-handed batter, who has been among the runs for England playing in this position, reveals the whole purpose against Bumrah is to put him under pressure.

“Yeah, it’s a challenge. I think I’ve played him in probably three different series now, and you’re constantly trying to find ways to put him under some pressure. I mean, he can bowl 20 overs in a day — that’s a lot. So, the way we talk about cricket is, you want to absorb pressure when needed, and then, if necessary, try to put a guy under a little bit of pressure,” Pope said.

He then detailed what’s best they can do to avoid gifting wickets to Bumrah.

‘Right, how can I rotate and get to the other end?’ And my partner’s thinking the same, so he [Bumrah] doesn’t get six balls at you in a row and use all his skills. He’s a highly skilled bowler, one of the best in the world, if not the best.

“There’s no hiding behind that. But I’m sure everyone has different methods to try and nullify his main threats and figure out their scoring areas. It’s really about keeping it as simple as possible,” Pope explained.

Meanwhile, Bumrah and Pope will again come up against each other during the forthcoming Test series, starting with the first Test on June 20 in Leeds.