Virat Kohli sarcastically asks Ollie Pope to not score runs at Lord's

Dawid Malan had a forgettable outing with the willow in England’s opening Test against India at Edgbaston in Birmingham. He was lacklustre with the willow having failed in both the innings. Moreover, he was no less than awful with his catching as he dropped quite a few catches in the slip cordon. Subsequently, he was removed from the squad for the second Test at Lord’s and Ollie Pope was roped in as his replacement.

Pope has been in prime form in England’s County Championship. The 20-year-old has played for Surrey and scored 684 runs in eight matches at an average of 85.50. The right-handed batsman has notched three centuries to go with one half-century. His highest score of 158 came against Yorkshire at Kennington Oval, Surrey’s home ground, in London.

I would just say enjoy the occasion

He is most likely to make his debut tomorrow at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’ and Virat Kohli and his men won’t want to undermine the youngster. Recently, the Indian captain mentioned Pope’s selection as a massive development in his career. However, he sarcastically asked Pope to not wield his magic with the cricket bat at Lord’s.

“I would just say enjoy the occasion, but don’t get too many runs (against India). It is a big moment for him, but honestly, I have not seen him bat or seen how he goes about things, I am sure if he is selected to play for England he is supposed to be very good,” Kohli was quoted as saying in the pre-match press conference.

Apart from Pope, the English team management also drafted in Chris Woakes, who recovered from the knee and quad injury, in their squad. Lately, they announced the names of 12 players who are likely to take the field at the iconic venue. Moeen Ali, who was released during the opening match, was also drafted in.

[interaction id=”5b681024b2f5084edafc5ee7″]

For more news and developments, stay tuned on CricTracker.com.