Pope determined to deliver 'runs after runs after runs' following Headingley ton

Ollie Pope said he was determined to "kick on" and put "runs after runs after runs" against India, after securing his place as England's No. 3 with his ninth Test century at Headingley.

Pope hit 196 at Hyderabad at the start of the reverse series 18 months ago but tailed off badly, failing to reach 40 in the final four Tests. He believes that a calmer mentality and technical work on his defence have helped him defy his reputation as an anxious starter, but admitted that he had found it impossible to ignore the scrutiny over his position ahead of this series.

"I've tried not to let it affect me too much," Pope said. "I've just been trying to make sure my game's in as good a place as possible and when I get in, try to make sure I make the most of it. I've tried to let the outside noise do its thing and make sure my game keeps improving, and that I get my headspace in as good a place as possible too."

Pope came into the series under pressure from Jacob Bethell, who impressed at No. 3 in England's tour to New Zealand late last year when Pope batted down the order and deputised as wicketkeeper. He said that he believed that series - in which he scored 194 runs in five innings - was the start of his improvement early in his innings.

"It's almost just trying my game a little bit more: not feeling like I've got to rush to 30 to then really feel 'in'," Pope said. "It's trying to enjoy the process of building an innings, rather than just, 'I want to get to 30 to then make a big one'... It's something I've been working hard on, just generally putting my game in a better place and making sure my defence is as good as it can be."

Pope did rush to 30 on the second afternoon, hitting six early boundaries to reach 31 off 25 balls after walking out at 4 for 1, but his fast-scoring was primarily the result of a fast outfield and some attacking bowling. His tempo changed as the field spread: his second fifty contained fewer boundaries than the first, but also took fewer balls as he rotated strike with ease.

He has never previously scored more than one hundred in a Test series - in fact, his previous eight centuries had all come against different opponents. But after starting the summer with 171 against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, Pope has scored back-to-back hundreds and is chasing more runs.

"It's a long series, and there's a lot to be done in this game still as well," he added. "It's definitely [an innings] that I really enjoyed. It was disappointing not to kick on this morning, but I'm really happy with how I went about it and played, and I'm happy with where my game's at - so hopefully, I can kick on."

The first Test is in the balance after three days, with India's top order building on a slender first-innings lead on Sunday evening. Pope said that England's lower-order contributions were "really important", with cameos from Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse helping them reduce the deficit to only six runs.

"[A deficit of] 40 or 50, just from a mindset, might have given them a little bit more confidence, knowing that they've got that head-start, but playing the game from an even playing field felt quite important. We got those two wickets; they played nicely. KL Rahul batted really well. It's important for us to get some early breakthroughs.

"It obviously would've been nice to get maybe one or two more wickets this evening, but I think the pitch is still playing really well. It's obviously such a quick-scoring ground, with the lightning [fast] outfield. It's obviously an important session tomorrow morning, and the game is poised in a pretty nice position."