Team India have gained an unassailable lead of 2-1 in the five match Test series against England. The team won by massive margins of 151 runs and 157 runs at Lord’s and The Oval respectively. England beat India in the third Test at Leeds by an innings and 76 runs.
Indian batsmen, especially Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have been in top form. Captain Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant have got some runs under their belt after starting the series on a poor note. Tail-enders have also made massive contributions with the bat to put India in a winning position multiple times.
England fast-bowler Mark Wood has said that India has a ‘world class’ batting line up and the room for error for the bowlers is very less.
“I think it’s (India) a world class batting line up. You go throughout the whole line-up and you think, well he is a great player, he is a good player. Rohit Sharma is being brilliant, he is tough to bowl at in any conditions,” Wood said at a virtual con-call ahead of the fifth and the final Test at Manchester.
Wood added that KL Rahul impressed him the most as he left the balls outside off-stump really well.
“KL Rahul, I have been really impressed with him, he has left the bowl really well early on and played really solitary and when he gets in, he has played quite beautifully. The openers are two big wickets for us,” said Wood
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He then spoke about Pujara and Kohli and termed the former as one of the toughest players to bowl to.
“Then you have got (Cheteshwar) Pujara, (Virat) Kohli, I mean Kohli is one of the toughest players that I have bowled at in any format, so it is a world-class line-up, but if you don’t believe in yourself, if you don’t believe you can get them out then there is no point in playing,” he said.
The 31-year old said that they had plans and backup plans for each batsman which may or may not work.
“So, we believe in ourselves as a group, we have plans for each batsman, we have backup plans, sometimes it works, sometimes they don’t. But when you have such a good sort of batting line up to come up against, you have to be right on the money, otherwise, they punish you,” said Wood.
The pacer went on to say that the series had been very competitive so far and though his team has lost a couple of matches, they looked to bounce back.
“Although we are losing these games, it is the fine margins when you come up against good batsmen, you are going to really make it count and that is what we are trying to do this game, bounce back, put in a really good performance and we hope we can do the same again,” he said.
Wood further praised the Indian pacers and said that he had a lot of respect for India’s bowling unit.
“I think, every team has quality pacers, this is national cricket, this is not (some) sort of school or club cricket. Every team has fantastic bowlers and I respect this Indian pace attack immensely.
“I think it is highly skilled, it has got pace, they are all slightly different, with different angles, different actions. It is great to watch, I mean, it is not great to face as a batsman, but as an opposition player, you can get huge respect,” he added.
The bowler went on to heap praise on Mohammad Shami and said that the Indian pacer had impressed him the most.
“And (Mohammad) Shami, I have been hugely impressed with him throughout the series. His skill level, his accuracy, and it has been tough for batsmen of both sides. It is a good bowling line up but we recognize that we will have to combat as best we can,” he said.
Wood revealed that left-arm spinner Jack Leach has a high chance of playing the final match at Old Trafford.
“It is a place that can spin, he is someone if he (Jack Leach) turns up, I am sure, India will think hard about him, he did well in India, so he is going with confidence knowing that he can get these great players out. He is someone who gives 100 percent,” Wood signed off.
The fifth Test will begin on September 10.
(With PTI inputs)
