"The more he's tested and plays in these environments, he's going to improve" - Marcus Trescothick backs struggling Ollie Pope

The England men's cricket team's batting coach Marcus Trescothick has come to Ollie Pope's defense following a poor run of form in the past few innings. The former opener reckons that the more Pope gets exposed to these conditions, the more he will thrive.

The Surrey batter started the series with a duck but struck a magnificent 196 in England's second innings in Hyderabad to fashion a 28-run win for his side. His form has plummeted drastically since then as he has registered scores of 23, 23, 39, 3, 0, 0, and 11.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Trescothick suggested that Pope will be a better player for all the struggles he's going through.

"He's adapted really well in certain conditions and certain parts of his game. The more he's tested and plays in these environments and tougher conditions, he's going to improve. After that 196 in the first game, we saw a vast improvement. It's just keeping growing that and encouraging that and he'll be a better player for it."

Day 1 of the fifth Test against India saw left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav trick Pope with a googly as the right-hander came down the track. Dhruv Jurel completed an easy stumping to send the Englishman packing for 11.

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"Getting into an innings is always challenging over here" - Marcus Trescothick

Marcus Trescothick. (Image Credits: Getty)

The 48-year-old reckons parts of Pope's game are getting better despite low scores. He added:

"Getting into an innings is always challenging over here, as is facing high-quality spin. That is a part of his game he is looking to improve on. I think we'd all agree that after his 196 in Hyderabad we had seen an improvement and we saw parts of his game that are definitely getting better. Let's keep allowing that to happen."

At 175/3, England had an opportunity to build a reasonable total. However, they collapsed to 218, with only Zak Crawley reaching a half-century. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin combined for nine wickets.