In Dharamsala, Kuldeep Yadav’s cunning outwits Ollie Pope

On the first day of the current fifth and final Test match between India and England at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA) in Dharamsala on Thursday, Ollie Pope was sent back for an early lunch after being outwitted by Kuldeep Yadav, the country’s best left-arm wrist spinner.
Pope misjudged the ball’s line while batting in the last over of play before lunch, allowing India to score their second wicket of the match.

Pope deliberately danced down the track and played down the incorrect line while trying to work the ball on the on-side for a single as he faced the third delivery of the 26th over.

Kuldeep outwitted Pope and left him perplexed with his cunning. The on-field umpires called for an early lunch, and the England hitter, with a dejected expression on his face, slowly made his way towards the visitor’s dressing room.

The result of the fifth Test at Dharamsala, however, is not at all meaningless for either side since it has different implications for them. While the Three Lions need a positive outcome to save their dignity, India needs a victory to maintain their lead in the WTC (World Test Championship 2023–25) points standings.

Remarkably, this is only the second test being held at the location. India and Australia faced off in the first Test match held in Dharamsala in March 2017.

Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah are the players:: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill.

England’s lineup for play:

Ben Foakes (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (c), Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, Mark Wood, James Anderson, and Zak Crawley