Hyderabad. The visitors, England, are in high spirits after winning the first Test of the 5-match series against India. Fast bowler Mark Wood believes that England’s trouble on a spin-friendly pitch is not a foregone conclusion. The defeat in the first Test has given the Indian team a lot to think about before the second Test. England recorded a memorable 28-run victory in the Hyderabad Test with vice-captain Ollie Pope’s brilliant 196 runs and debutant spinner Tom Hartley’s 7-wicket haul in the fourth innings.
Wood told ‘ESPNcricinfo’, “I don’t know what kind of pitch they will prepare (for the second Test). India has the ability to take any wicket here. I have played World Cup matches and IPL matches where there are fast bowling friendly, flat pitches, spin friendly wickets. He has the ability to prepare any kind of wicket as per his wish. But now we have given them something to think about. It’s not a foregone conclusion that we’re going to come here and they’re going to spin us out.
Pope dominated England’s second innings against the Indian spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Wood said, “Ollie Pope has played a brilliant innings, he will now have to analyze, like we do when things are not good, and analyze how he will compete. We have won a match. This is a big achievement but I don’t think we need to think too far ahead.
The 34-year-old Wood was the only fast bowler in England’s playing eleven for the first Test and said he felt awkward when captain Ben Stokes informed him he would bowl a short spell. He said, “When we were on the field he (Stokes) probably said one or two things. I mean, I thought I wouldn’t even be able to open the bowling in the second innings. But it was like ‘one over, that’s it’.
Wood ultimately bowled 25 overs in the match but did not get any wickets. In contrast, India’s fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took six wickets, which included four wickets for 41 runs in the second innings. Wood said, “Bumrah did not make my path easy by bowling like a genius. It was difficult. It was a little strange, a little strange at times. During the match I used to think ‘I can bowl here’ but the spin was causing damage.
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Tags: India vs England, Mark Wood
FIRST PUBLISHED: January 29, 2024, 20:11 IST