"It was superb" - Geoffrey Boycott on Ollie Pope's 196 against India in Hyderabad

Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott stated that he believes Ollie Pope's 196 in Hyderabad is at par with Kevin Pietersen's 196 in Mumbai in 2012. Boycott observed that Pope's frequent use of the sweep and reverse sweep didn't allow the Indian spinners to settle into one length.

Pope was dismissed for just one run in the first innings in Hyderabad, but went on to score a match-winning 196 in the second, playing a critical role in wiping out the 190-run deficit. The right-hander played an array of sweeps and reverse-sweeps as India's spin-trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel struggled to contain him.

In his column for The Telegraph, the 83-year-old admitted he hardly expected Pope to play the way he did in the second innings. He wrote:

"Pope’s 196 was one of the best I have ever seen and on a par with Kevin Pietersen’s 186 in Mumbai in 2012. Great is a word often misused in sport but not for this innings. It was superb. Pope failed in his first innings pushing hard at the ball so nobody could have foreseen how he would mesmerise a top Indian attack."

Boycott pointed out that an overseas batter in India has rarely controlled the home team's spinners. He added:

"But he did this by employing lots of sweeps, reverse sweeps and switch hits that upset the bowlers’ lengths. He was controlling them when they should have been controlling him on that surface. England’s sweeping, reverse sweeping, scoops and switch hitting really has India worried. It is all designed to upset spinners and stop them dictating and bowling on a length."

Following the match, Team India coach Rahul Dravid admitted that he hadn't seen a batter play that many reverse sweeps before.

"He was nervous and showed it in his first Test" - Geoffrey Boycott about Tom Hartley

Tom Hartley. (Image Credits: Getty)

The veteran commentator stated that anything over 180 was always going to be challenging for India to chase in the fourth innings. He also added that debutant Tom Hartley's first-innings' struggles came down to England's modest total.

"Once India needed 231 to win their chances were slim. All England’s spinners had to do was turn their arms over, not try anything fancy, bowl the length often and let the pitch do it for them. Tom Hartley had a tough baptism in India’s first innings. He was nervous and showed it in his first Test. Because England only scored 246 batting first the Indian batsmen were relaxed and whacked his first ball for six," Boycott wrote.

Nevertheless, Boycott added that Hartley should be proud of playing a leading role in the fourth innings to win the Test for England. He added:

"Hartley got a couple of early wickets which raised his confidence and he was able to have the best moment of his cricketing career. He should enjoy and treasure the moment. Beating India in India after being 190 runs adrift is staggering."

Hartley claimed seven wickets in the fourth innings as England bowled India out for 202 while defending 230.