Ollie Pope had stepped up as England Test captain while Ben Stokes was out injured and wanted to understand from Joe Root how to manage the dual role of a captain and a batsman.
In spite of making England win the first Test of Sri Lanka in five wickets during the outing to Old Trafford, Pope’s individual wrestled with the bat himself and he scored two ducks in that match as well.
Acknowledging the difficulties of captaincy, Pope spoke to Root, who holds the record for captaining England in 64 Tests, suggesting he wanted to know how to plan the two roles.
“I actually had a good week. The runs didn’t come for me in the other match but hopefully now over the next two weeks I will be able to keep the captaincy aside when it is need time to bat. It is like trying to have two things separate. This is something Ahsanga speaks to Joe Root about. We only talked about why it is more swearing while on the field but it is more about finding a process and doing little things,” Pope said before the second Test tour, company Parami.
Root, who is a successful former captain and a batsman, has helped Pope to comprehend how to balance leadership and performance on a personal level.
“It’s merely about figuring out how to slice it”. “Having a word with Rooty, especially because he is the best English batter and has a very good cricketing intellect, a couple of ideas bounced between us,” added Pope.
The relatively recent successes of the England team have been under the leadership of Stokes and guidance of Brendon McCullum and is depicted by aggressive high margin increase. Meanwhile, the first Test against Sri Lanka experienced England spot a different dimension, where Root who was very patient manage to score a half century that steered England’s run chase which subdued the slow conditions.
“We don’t adopt the word Bazball in our game, but the last time in Manchester we had a match in a different way (at Old Trafford) and that is something which can keep pushing us as a team. If we can be heartless, we’ve to try and be heartless simply to acquire as many victories as we can,” the batter added.
Although Stokes is still out injured with a hamstring injury, Pope has been optimistic for the inclusion of the all-rounder for the upcoming tours to Pakistan and New Zealand, noting; ‘Injuries are never ideal but they are also good opportunities for people to have a break and think of what ways their game can improve. In the nets I am sure that is what he is doing. Going into that Pakistan series and then New Zealand, he’s going to be as fresh as anyone.’
