Brendon McCullum backs Ollie Pope to get back to his best after struggling for form since his stunning 196 in the first Test against India… as the England coach hails his ‘great’ leadership qualities

Ollie Pope started this series with one of the great Test innings but is in danger of ending it while barely looking like he can score a run. These are extremes of form, meaning England’s next captain still has something to prove in Dharamshala this week.

When Pope made that remarkable 196, full of Bazball daring but also textbook orthodoxy, he seemed to have finally put to rest any doubts about his worthiness as Stoke’s eventual successor in the first Test comeback win.

But three Tests later and with a three-ball pair in Ranchi behind him, Pope’s need for a score is one of many subplots that make England’s visit to the foothills of the Himalayas on Thursday anything but a 3-1 win over India. a dead rubber.

It is at the start of his innings that the Surrey man still looks vulnerable, frantic and skittish, and even in Hyderabad he could have fallen without scoring reverse-sweeping before moving on to that second-innings epic.

If Pope really wants to be England’s next great batsman, it is a vulnerability he must overcome, as coach Brendon McCullum acknowledged when he compared the vice-captain to two great, poor starters of the past.

Pope made a stunning 196 in England’s stunning comeback win in the first Test of the series

But the batsman has struggled with form since then and picked up a pair in the fourth Test in Ranchi

“Look at Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting when they first started batting,” McCullum said. ‘They were hectic at the beginning and everyone is susceptible when they first go outside. It’s just the way it is.

‘But Popey tries to be as calm as possible when he goes out and there is a period where he has to get information from the wicket and get the rhythm of how the game is going.

“It’s important for him that he hasn’t played his innings before he goes out, just relaxes and supports himself in that situation.”

England’s confidence in Pope remains absolute and it is noticeable during this tour how involved he is now, together with Stokes and McCullum, in all decision-making.

It will take more than Pope’s cat on a hot tin roof to shake that belief, but that doesn’t mean it’s a problem he really needs to solve.

“He knows what to do,” McCullum said. ‘He obviously wrapped them up in the last Test and he’s devastated about that, but look at the way he helped the skipper on the last day and dived around the field.

England coach Brendon McCullum urged Pope to relax and backed him to get back into shape

He also praised Pope’s leadership qualities, with the batsman acting as Ben Stokes’ vice-captain

‘That’s what you desperately long for as a coach, to see people giving the best of themselves, regardless of their own performance. He showed great leadership qualities and that showed where he is as a player, as a member of this team and as a person.”

So even if he makes a few more in the final Test, it certainly won’t be a Pope making way when Harry Brook returns at the start of the Test summer against the West Indies at Lord’s in July.

But for his own peace of mind, he needs to make a much quieter start in Dharamshala.