 "IND vs ENG 1st Test - Pitch sometimes can be two-paced: Pacer Mark Wood")
Ahead of the five-match Test series against India, star England seamer Mark Wood talked about his plans to bowl to India skipper Rohit Sharma and noted the pitch sometimes can be two-paced.
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India will lock horns against England in the first Test which will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, in Hyderabad. The second Test of the series will be played at Vishakapatnam, the third Test at Rajkot, the fourth Test at Ranchi and the fifth and final Test at Dharamsala.
"Yeah, the conditions will be assessed once I am out there, and bumps (bouncers) are rarely bought out here. But the pitch sometimes can be two-paced and, if it is slow, it can help (bowlers) because the batters will be through with the shot," Wood said at a press conference.
"Someone like Rohit, I know how good he is on the short ball. That doesn't necessarily mean that I wouldn't bowl a bouncer. It just means that I'll have to be really accurate with it and bowl at the right time," he added.
India are playing their first home series on home soil of the WTC cycle 2023-25. They are currently placed in second position with a win percentage of 54.16.
England Test squad for India series: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes (wk), Dan Lawrence, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.
India squad for the first two Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc) and Avesh Khan.