Follow UsBowling against India is a really difficult challenge and someone like Mark Wood, who has had great success in all three formats of the game, also acknowledged the same. Talking especially about bowling in Tests to Indian batters, the Englishman revealed the names of three Indian batters and reasons as to why it is difficult to bowl against them.
Speaking about his difficulty bowling against former India Test captain Rohit Sharma, the 35-year-old said, “I would say Rohit was difficult because against the short ball, you feel like you, for myself, I’ve got a chance of getting him out, but also if he’s on his day, he smokes it. So, he was difficult,” Indian Express quoted Wood as saying on The Overlap podcast.
“I always felt like his bat was big, it just kept getting wider,” added the quick, who is famous for touching the 150 kmph mark consistently.
Talking about Virat Kohli, Wood said that he always thought he could get him out, but it was very difficult when it came to executing the plans against the modern-day great.
“Kohli, obviously. Unbelievable competitor, someone that I felt you have this weakness of fourth, fifth stump. Drag him in. He seemed to never miss them when I bowled him there. So, that was difficult,” said the man who has picked up only 9 wickets in four Tests against India at a very underwhelming average of 50.
Part of the reason for his poor average against India is him playing three out of those four Tests in India, and another part would be playing against the likes of Kohli and Rohit. While Wood was able to get Rohit once in six innings, he could not dismiss Kohli even once.
He was, though, quite impressive against Rishabh Pant, a batter whom many bowlers have found it hard to bowl to in Tests.
Speaking about his plans while bowling to Pant, Wood said, “I think you’ve got to hold your nerve. It’s because I think you kind of have to be so unpredictable that it doesn’t play into his hands, because he can just stand there and wait for anything difficult.
“But if you are the same all the time, then he can, he’s got such a good eye, he sort of hits it where he wants. You’ve got to have a mixture, a slower ball or change up with a really high bouncer or a fast yorker,” added the man who has a good record against Pant, conceding just 14 runs in 19 balls while getting him out once as well.
Wood did not play in the last series involving India and England due to injury. He will be aiming to get fit for the Ashes Down Under, which begins on November 21 with the first Test in Perth.