"This wasn't a surface where you could come out swinging," said Ollie Pope as he defended England abandoning 'Bazball' for a more conservative style of batting on the opening day of the third Test against India here.

England were 251/4 at stumps on Thursday after an uncharacteristically defensive performance that required plenty of patience, a far cry from their usually aggressive rate of scoring in the format.

"This wasn't a surface where you could come out swinging. The Indian attack held their lengths and made it hard to score," Pope said at the post-play press conference, referring to the tight spells bowled by the Indian attack that was bolstered by the return of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (1/35).

Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/46) was most successful while Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj did their bit to maintain a tight grip on the scoring rate.

"...not necessarily the way we're used to kind of going about, putting together a first innings, but I think 250 for four is a pretty, pretty good score...obviously would have liked some more runs...," Pope, who made a dogged 104-ball 44 before falling to Ravindra Jadeja, said.

"...but I think the the nature of the surface and I think the way the Indian attack bowled as well was pretty good throughout," he added.

Pope said the opening day's play was all about respecting the conditions and adapting to the needs of the team.

"I think it's a day that we'll take, obviously we've had to adapt...I think for us, yeah, it's just about getting better as a team and reading situations.

"...sometimes it might be that you see some more aggressive shots on a pitch that's really moving around and nipping around.

"(That's) because that's your best way of putting some pressure back on the bowlers and trying to get them to sort of stop doing what they want to do," he explained.

Talking about his own batting, Pope said building an innings was his priority.

"...it's something that we're we're trying to get better and better as a team and obviously (it's) a Test against India. They're always going to test you in in those kind of situations. So yeah, it's just trying to adapt," asserted.

Pope, who is the vice captain of the team, was also quizzed about skipper Ben Stokes, who was unbeaten on 39 along side Joe Root (99) but left the side concerned with a groin niggle during his 102-ball stay.

"...I've not seen him since, so fingers crossed it's nothing too serious, but yeah, clearly we've got a big Test over the next four days and and we've got a big two coming up as well...So, it is important to try and manage him and yeah, we'll see how he pulls up tomorrow.

"But for me, yeah, one of my roles is to make sure that he doesn't sort of push himself to a ridiculous place with whatever he's dealing with at the moment. So, yeah, I'm sure the physios and medics will work with him to kind of lay out a plan and then I'll help push him in the right direction," he added.

He also hoped that Root would turn his knock into a "monster" effort for the team.

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