Ollie Pope lavished praise on Ben Stokes as ‘unbelievable’ ahead of the England skipper's 100th Test appearance. Stokes is poised to make history in the third Test against India, starting on Thursday, February 15 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium in Rajkot.
Ben Stokes is set to become the 16th English cricketer to achieve this milestone. Before the Rajkot Test, Pope expressed gratitude to Stokes for contributing countless ‘special moments’ to English cricket ahead of the Rajkot Test.
"Unbelievable achievement to play 100 Tests. Since he has been the captain there have been so many special moments," Pope said in the pre-match press conference.
Ben Stokes unsure in Rajkot Test: Ollie Pope
Meanwhile, Pope mentioned that there are still uncertainties about Stokes' return to bowling in the third Test. He explained that Stokes has been working on resolving his knee issues.
"Not sure if Ben Stokes will be available to bowl in the Rajkot Test, he is working to get his knee right," he added.
Stokes became the captain of the English Test team in 2022, taking over from Joe Root. Since then, he has had a big impact on their cricket. In the 21 Tests he has captained, Stokes has won 14 of them and lost only 6.
Along with head coach Brendon McCullum during the Bazball era, Stokes has helped England become a strong team in cricket.
In 99 Test matches, Stokes has accumulated 6251 runs at an average of 36.34, including 13 centuries and 31 half-centuries. He is just three wickets away from reaching 200 wickets in Test cricket.
Stokes faces a big challenge as England look to bounce back in Rajkot Test after losing the second Test to India in Visakhapatnam by 106 runs, levelling the five-match series 1-1.
India’s updated squad for the third Test: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal.
England’s Test squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Daniel Lawrence, Gus Atkinson
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