India’s premier bowler overcame frustration to find perfect balance, but England’s Ollie Pope changed narrative again
If there was a negative to the brilliance of Ollie Pope as he hauled England’s second innings from the edge of calamity, it was that because of it too many will forget how the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah had put them there.
For a while everything was going wrong for England, and it was hard to pinpoint the moment the slide had started. Was it when an Indian batter was dismissed first ball? Was it when their opponents’ premier bowler was hauled off after just two overs? Was it when their own batter survived an lbw appeal, or when a misfield gifted them four runs? It was hard to tell, partly because each of these incidents was superficially good for them, causing their fans to celebrate as their team moved ever closer to what still seems likely defeat.