"Where did the feet go, and where was the ball going?" - Saba Karim on Ravindra Jadeja's dismissal of Ollie Pope on Day 1 of ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

Former India player Saba Karim has opined that Ollie Pope fell prey to Ravindra Jadeja in the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy while playing an ordinary shot. He highlighted that the England batter's feet didn't move towards the ball and that he ended up virtually throwing the bat at it.

Pope scored 44 runs off 104 deliveries as England ended Day 1 (Thursday, July 10) at 251/4 in their first innings. Joe Root (99* off 191) and Ben Stokes (39* off 102) were the unbeaten batters at Stumps.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Saba was asked about his thoughts on Jadeja's dismissal of Pope.

"I felt it was an ordinary shot. He had played such a good knock till then. As soon as he played the first ball after the break, where did the feet go, and where was the ball going? The ball was almost on the seventh stump, and since the foot went straight, you have just flayed the bat at it with the hope that if the contact happens, it will be with the middle of the bat. It doesn't happen like that," he responded.

Former India batter Hemang Badani concurred with his fellow analyst's views, highlighting that Pope should have played the ball off the back foot.

"An Asian continent batter would have played that ball off the back foot. The ball was so far away, you couldn't have played it on the front foot at all. He not only played it, he flayed the bat at it from far. A good player against spin would have gone onto the back foot and punched this ball towards cover. It wasn't a full ball at all. He played an extremely ordinary shot," he elaborated.

Ollie Pope nicked a Ravindra Jadeja delivery to Dhruv Jurel behind the wickets off the first ball after Tea. Jurel, who was keeping wickets as Rishabh Pant had gone off the field due to an injured finger, took an excellent catch to help the left-arm spinner take his only wicket of the day.

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"It becomes very easy to play with Joe Root" - Saba Karim on Ollie Pope's knock on Day 1 of ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

Ollie Pope struck four fours during his 44-run knock. [P/C: Getty]

In the same discussion, Saba Karim was asked about his views on Ollie Pope's knock.

"I feel it becomes very easy to play with Joe Root because you learn a lot. His approach shows that if you also spend time, the footwork automatically starts working. You are able to figure out how to play the moving ball," he replied.

The former India selector praised Pope for playing circumspectly and adding crucial runs with Joe Root.

"The England team needed that partnership very badly at that stage. After the first Test match, Ollie Pope felt the Indian seam bowlers had exploited his weakness in the last Test match, and he had to buckle down a lot and bat here," Saba observed.

Joe Root joined Ollie Pope in the middle when England were reduced to 44/2. The duo stitched together a 109-run third-wicket partnership to bail their side out of a slight spot of bother.