England speedster Mark Wood has on Wednesday (March 17) revealed that he is working on mastering the slow yorker, so that he will be ready to execute his skills on any type of Indian surface or pitches in the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup to be held later this year in India.
The 31-year-old Wood has already the ability to intimidate batsmen with his express pace, but he has now realized the importance of slow ball while playing on the Indian pitches after having played with India’s Shardul Thakur for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the India Premier League (IPL).
With the T20 World Cup 2021 just 7 months away, the English pacer is trying hard to make the slow yorker his weapon on the Indian conditions for the forthcoming showpiece event this year.
Wood told the British media on Wednesday: “Watching their bowlers… I played with Shardul Thakur at Chennai in the IPL. And he’s got a new slower ball. So just looking at that and how well that’s worked here, it’s something that I’m trying to adapt into my game.”
The speedster further explained, “My role has been pretty clear, the plans that I have been trying to do. Behind the scenes, I’m still trying to learn new things, slow balls try to get that on my yorker ball and so there are always things to improve on.
These are the conditions we’re gonna come up against in the World Cup, so it’s trying to get the right skills in place to be able to adapt on any given surface or the type of pitches we might come across here.”
Meanwhile, Wood has been constantly troubling the Indian batsmen in the ongoing T20I series with his 140-kph-plus speed consistently, but he feels he hasn’t yet cemented his spot in England team.
He said, “I played well in a couple of games but, you know, last summer, I played well against Australia, and then I missed out in South Africa. We have got many good bowlers that I don’t feel like my place is a given.”
Wood feels the ongoing T20I series in India gives him a chance to cement his place in England squad for the T20 World Cup 2021, as he is aiming to play in the tournament and win the trophy for his side.
The right-arm pacer continued, “It gives me a chance to prove myself in this series and ultimately we all want to be part of that group that plays in the World Cup and hopefully wins the World Cup for England. We’ve got plenty of backups, people go in and out of form, injuries will come and go. So it’s important that, as a group, no one takes a sport for granted.”
Wood also revealed England skipper Eoin Morgan sees him as a member of their core group and it gave him immense confidence, so he just wants to keep working hard off-the-field as well as on-the-field and keep delivering for his side to play the ICC event.
He further added, “Eoin is a great leader, someone when I don’t play he tells in a straightway why I’m not playing and what he wants me to improve on. And when I am playing he’s very clear about my role, it’s very clear what he’s after for me in the game in terms of plans and things.
So it gives me a lot of confidence that he sees me that way. We both get on well and know each other well enough to have that relationship. I’m delighted that he feels that way but that doesn’t, by any means, mean that I’m a given in the team. So gotta keep working hard off-the-field as well as on-the-field, keep delivering.”
He has been constantly compared to his new-ball partner Jofra Archer and the pacer said it doesn’t bother him at all, but it only brings the best out of him.
Wood signed off, “It doesn’t bother us in terms of being competitors, it’s the same question all the time, isn’t it. That’s Jofra and I try and go faster than each other. Now we’ve played together so much that we just enjoy it together. It brings the best out of me as it does I’m sure to him. We just concentrate on our own roles. It’s great to be able to back that up together and put the pressure on the opposition.”
(With PTI Inputs)
