England’s Test stand-in captain Ollie Pope sounded optimistic over his team’s performance in the forthcoming three-Test series against Pakistan.
"Obviously from a batting point of view it's different to the fast bowlers, but I think they'll have a couple weeks off just to refresh and get right for that," Pope said.
Additionally, Mark Wood is suffering from a bone stress injury in his right elbow due to which the 34-year-old has been ruled out of the tournaments in the near future.
The 26-year-old is eagerly waiting to represent his country against the Green Shirts.
"And I think pulling an England shirt on is the greatest honour, so I don't think there needs to be much more motivation," he added.
Meanwhile, England’s captain Ben Stokes is recovering from his hamstring injury which he encountered while playing for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred 2024.
Following the recent retirements of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, it will be crucial to manage with the players’ fitness.
Despite the challenges, Pope remains confident about the team’s mindset.
The right-handed batter added a period to his statements after expressing excitement for the upcoming seroes.
"We love touring as a team and everything's a new, exciting challenge. So I think from that point of view, that's fine. I know it's a short turnaround, but I think us as a team, we love every bit in an England shirt whenever we get the opportunity to pull it on. So that won't be an issue getting up for that. There'll be a lot of excitement come the time ago to Pakistan," he concluded.
Recently, England has bagged two convincing wins in the Test series against Sr Lanka. However, Sri Lanka bounced back in the final Test, resulting in a 2-1 series win.
Pakistan, on the contrary, were defeated in the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh, suffering a disappointing 2-0 whitewash.
England's fixtures against Pakistan are scheduled from October 7-28 in Multan and Rawalpindi, followed by a series against the Black Caps in November.
