Ollie Pope reacts to Michael Vaughan calling him an 'insecure human being' amid captaincy critiques: 'I'm not shocked'

England stand-in captain Ollie Pope, who filled in for the injured Ben Stokes during the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's, faced harsh criticism for his performance both as a batter and as a captain, despite England's convincing 190-run victory. Former England captain Michael Vaughan didn't hold back, describing Pope as "an insecure human being" and questioning his suitability to lead the team. In response to the criticism, Pope remained unfazed after leading England to a series win at Lord's.

Criticism mounted on Pope after he failed to capitalise on his captaincy responsibility and amassed only 30 runs in the four innings he played in the series against Sri Lanka so far. In the second Test, he scored 1 and 17, which included the forgettable dismissal in the opening innings where he top-edged a wild pull to the fielder at square leg.

"I don't like him as the captain," Vaughan, who led England in 51 Tests, told the Test Match Special podcast last week. "He's not the kind of personality I'd want as the England captain. "He's quite an insecure human being - a great team guy and person but throwing the captaincy on him has added the pressure. He was doing great at number three.

Pope, speaking to the media after England's emphatic win, admitted that the criticism did not surprise him and added that he rather expected more of it during the second Test where he filled Stokes' shoes. However, he said that he aims to avoid "overthinking" about the outside noise ahead of the third and final Test match of the series at The Oval.

"I'm not surprised," he said. "Chatting to Stokesy before this series, when you're captain as well, you're going to attract a lot more [criticism]. To be honest, it is just important to block it out and keep staying close with the people around you. There's a lot of voices, a lot of guys who want to have their say - some past cricketers as well - and that's completely fine.

"Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but it's important for us as a team and me to stay and keep trusting the people in the four walls, because that's not going to help me get back into my best form. Sometimes, when you have two bad games, it can feel a lot worse than it is because of the noise that's surrounding it."

"For me, it's just trying to stay as level as I can and keep on trusting the people around me, putting my work in, and not really overthinking it, to be honest. When I went and made good runs in that West Indies series, that's exactly what I was playing like, so there's no real need for me to get too involved in what people are saying."

Can Pope find form at The Oval?

Pope, who averages 34 in his career, where he has played 48 Tests for England, has managed to go past the 20th ball in an innings on only 38 per cent of the occasion. However, the England batter will hope to bounce back to form when he returns to his home ground later this week for the first time in two years.

"Obviously it's a great place to bat," he said. "It's always special getting back to The Oval, where I've played all my county cricket, so hopefully there will be a great crowd in. Everyone will be excited to get to The Oval."

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