Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter to draw comparisons between England youngster Ollie Pope and the side's 118-Test veteran.
India's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar on Friday drew the comparison in Ollie Pope's batting style with England batsman Ian Bell. Tendulkar said that Pope's stance and batting style is "exactly the same" as Bell, who has represented England in 118 Tests and 161 ODIs.
Taking to Twitter, Tendulkar wrote, "Been watching the 3rd Test, @OPope32 seems to have modeled his batting on @Ian_Bell. His stance and footwork looks exactly the same to me. #ENGvWI."
Pope, who made his debut at the age of 20 against India, has often drawn comparisons with Bell due to the similarities mentioned by Tendulkar. The English youngster has also acknowledged the comparisons but insisted that he never tried to emulate the English great.
"When I went on the North v South series it was Andrew Strauss who said: ‘Who’s your favourite player growing up?’, and he expected me to say Belly (Ian Bell). I think he’s an amazing player and I used to love watching him bat but it’s not been anything that I’ve tried to emulate. It’s a big compliment because he is a pretty class player to watch," Pope had earlier said in a conversation with Guardian earlier this year.
In the same interview, Pope also mentioned that his childhood heroes were wicketkeeper-batsmen like Australia's Adam Gilchrist and England's Alec Stewart. The former England wicketkeeper is also the Director of Cricket at the County club Pope represents - Surrey.
England are currently playing West Indies in a three-match Test series, which kicked-off the international cricket after over three months of break due to the coronavirus pandemic. The series is currently level at 1-1 with the third Test taking place at the moment in Manchester.
