"Tried not to let it affect me too much": Ollie Pope on his century against India

Leeds [UK], June 23 (ANI) England batter Ollie Pope reflected on his century in the first match of the five-test series against India on Monday at Leeds. Pope said he has tried not to be affected much by it and wants to make the most of every opportunity.

Pope hammered Indian bowlers to bring up a ninth century in Test cricket. The number three batter came on early at the crease (4/1) before sharing a century-plus stand alongside Ben Duckett. Pope, who was handed a life by Yashasvi Jaiswal with a dropped catch, completed his century off 125 balls.

While speaking in the post-match press conference, Ollie Pope said, "I've tried not to let it affect me too much," I've just been trying to make sure my game's in as good a place as possible, and when I get in, I 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."

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

The first Test is in the balance after three days, with India's top order building on a slender first-innings lead on Sunday evening. Pope said that England's lower-order contributions were "really important", with cameos from Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse helping them reduce the deficit to only six runs.

"[A deficit of] 40 or 50, just from a mindset, might have given them a little bit more confidence, knowing that they've got that head-start, but playing the game from an even playing field felt quite important. We got those two wickets; they played nicely. KL Rahul batted really well. It's important for us to get some early breakthroughs," he added.

"It obviously would've been nice to get maybe one or two more wickets this evening, but I think the pitch is still playing really well. It's obviously such a quick-scoring ground, with the lightning [fast] outfield. It's obviously an important session tomorrow morning, and the game is poised in a pretty nice position," Pope said.

A very entertaining day of Test cricket, mostly dominated by England, ended with India taking a 96-run lead following the final session of the first Test at Leeds on Sunday. At the end of the day's play, which was cut short due to rain, India ended at 90/2, with KL Rahul (47*) and skipper Shubman Gill (6*) unbeaten.

Brief Scores: England: 465 (Ollie Pope: 106, Harry Brook 99, Jasprit Bumrah 5/83) vs India: 471 and 90/2 (KL Rahul 47*, Sai Sudharsan 30, Ben Stokes 1/18). (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)