Good News For England! Express Pacer Reveals Return Date For India Tests
Last Updated:
England fast-bowler Mark Wood has started bowling attack and revealed which Test against India could see his return.
England fast-bowler Mark Wood is hoping to be fit and available for the fifth Test of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against India. The series began on Friday (June 20) in Headingley and will conclude with the last Test on July 31-August 04 at the Kennington Oval in London.
The express pacer suffered medial ligament damage in his left knee during the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the UAE. He underwent surgery in March and has been under rehab since. After the first day of the Headingley Test, Wood revealed that he had started bowling and had 'officially' begun his comeback.
'Rehab is going well. I've just started bowling very lightly, so I'm on the comeback trail now officially," Wood told BBC Test Match Special. 'I'm hoping still to play a part in this series, so I get to have a look at some of the players here who I might come up against. I'm still targeting probably the last Test. Anything before that is maybe a bit too soon. The last Test, I might not get there, but at the minute, that's still my focus that I might play a part."
'It's been a bit slow (comeback) to start with. I haven't been able to do a lot, but starting to speed up now, getting some bowling in, hopefully not too much longer. I am still hoping that I can play a part right at the end of the series, but I'll just wait and see," he added.
England was jolted by injuries before the start of the series. Wood was feared to miss all five Tests while Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer missed the first Test due to hamstring and thumb injuries, respectively. The latter two are said to be in contention for the second match, at Edgbaston, Birmingham, between July 2-6.
England's lack of experience in the bowling group was tangible on Friday as India put up 359/3 at Stumps with centuries from Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The leader of the attack, Chris Woakes (who has also returned from injury recently), looked off-color as Ben Stokes (2/43) and Brydon Carse (1/70) were the only ones among the wickets.
First Published:
June 21, 2025, 10:06 IST
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
5 hours ago
- India.com
I Take Complete Responsibility About...: Prasidh Krishna Makes Honest Admission After Expensive Outing In Leeds Test
After an expensive outing in the first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Headingley, India fast bowler Prasidh Krishna said he is keen to make amends in the rest of the series after admitting to not bowling the desired lengths in the opening game. In England winning the first Test by five wickets and taking 1-0 lead in five-match series, Prasidh had a forgetful time in his first time of playing the longer format in the country. He picked up three wickets in the first innings but gave away 128 runs in his 20 overs at an economy rate of 6.4 In the second innings, he picked two wickets, but conceded 92 runs in 15 overs at an economy rate of 6.1. 'If I look at the first innings, I was a little too short then where I wanted to be, definitely 6-8 meters is ideal, and that's what I would say. I think second innings it got slightly better because again the wicket was slightly slower. I had to pitch a few slightly behind 8 meters and then go slightly fuller when I'm trying to get a wicket. So I definitely did not bowl the lengths that I wanted to.' 'I think so - not wanting to float it up there is definitely one of the reasons. Also, it honestly took me some time to get used to the slope that side. No reasons, but I should be able to do it as a professional. But I take complete responsibility about it and maybe do it better next time,' said Prasidh to reporters in Birmingham, ahead of second Test starting at Edgbaston on July 2. Alongside Shardul Thakur, Prasidh had the role of being the support bowler to Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, but him giving away runs aplenty meant the pressure made by senior pros just evaporated. To Prasidh's credit, the lanky bowler is keen to address this issue. 'Every time I come out to bowl, I am definitely looking to bowl a maiden. I am not really trying to give away boundaries or anything. The outfield was fast. The lengths, lines that I bowled was not perfect, to be honest, at most times, and they took me on. Some of them were edges. Some of them, I tried bowling bouncers and I ended up giving runs. So, I think somebody in the team had to do it.' 'If I sit back and say, I want to look at my numbers, what my economy is, and not really look at the wickets, it caught me a 4 and a 6, and then, Jamie Smith got out. So, if it means that I do that and get a wicket, I am happy to do it. But definitely, every time I come out to bowl, I am looking to keep the economy rate down and build the pressure up.' 'Definitely I had a few conversations with a few of them about how this game particularly went by. I definitely would want to bring that down to whatever best I can do. I think I'm learning as well. Well, I can't say anything. It's up to me. It's my responsibility to get better, and that's what I'm trying. That's what I'm working on. I just want to make sure I put in the right kind of work and come back here and put up better numbers,' he added. With India set to be without Bumrah for at least two of the remaining four Tests in England, Krishna said he is aware of the opportunity to step in whenever the fast-bowling spearhead is rested. "What the culture that we guys have created is we are learning off each other, no matter who's there, who's around. He's (Bumrah) been talking to all of us all though, even before coming here." "At least for me, I've been part of this team for a few years now, so the conversations are still going on. One thing you cannot get is experience, that you have to do it yourself, and yeah, I think all of us are excited." "If you look at the team, everybody is here, Siraj has played a lot of games, he's going to continue playing, and then whoever comes in, or whatever happens later, it's a great experience, and it's an opportunity for us to be here," added Prasidh. He signed off by saying the dressing room environment is going fine despite a deflating defeat in Leeds. 'The dressing room is still nice and happy and very, very motivated. Like I said, we came here (at Headingley) knowing what this opportunity meant for all of us. Even in that game, we might have looked quiet at some stages.' 'But I think we still had a plan. We wanted to do something and we went about doing it and we got two wickets in a cluster twice. So, that still kept the motivation going. Then, as a bowling unit, when something's happening, we still ended up taking the new ball.' 'They needed about 20 runs with the same hope of something's going to happen. So, we are still there believing. We made sure till the last run is scored that we were still out there and making sure they worked hard for it.'
The Hindu
5 hours ago
- The Hindu
ENG vs IND: Why are India, England women players wearing black armbands during first T20I in Nottingham?
The India and England women's cricket teams observed a minute's silence and wore black armbands during their first T20I match on Saturday in tribute to the victims of the Air India plane crash. The Indian and English men's team had also worn black armbands on day one of the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at Headingley in memory of those who lost their lives in the tragic incident. On June 12, an Air India passenger plane flying from Ahmedabad to London crashed moments after takeoff from the Ahmedabad airport. Only one person survived. The total death toll rose to 265 after the aircraft crashed into a medical college complex. According to the airline, the flight was carrying 230 passengers — including 69 Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian — along with 12 crew members.
India.com
6 hours ago
- India.com
Indias Predicted Playing XI For 2nd Test Against England: Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur OUT; Arshdeep Singh, Nitish Reddy IN
photoDetails english 2923640 Shubman Gill-led India will face Ben Stokes' England in the second Test of the five-match series for the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy from July 2 to 6 in Edgbaston, Birmingham. After losing the first Test in Leeds by five wickets, India will look to bounce back in the series and they are likely to make key changes to their playing XI in the second Test. The absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who is likely to be rested due to workload management, will influence India's lineup. Here's India's predicted Playing XI for the 2nd Test against England: Updated:Jun 28, 2025, 09:07 PM IST 1. Yashasvi Jaiswal 1 / 11 Young left-handed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored the century in the first Test in Leeds, is all set to open the innings for India in the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. 2. KL Rahul 2 / 11 KL Rahul, who brings that much-needed experience, is all set to open the innings for India alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. After scoring a century in the first Test, Rahul will look to continue his heroics with the bat in the second Test of the series. 3. Sai Sudharsan 3 / 11 Sai Sudharsan didn't have a great start to his Test career while batting at No. 3 in the first Test against England in Leeds. However, the team management is likely to back him for another Test. Sudharsan, who had scores of 0 and 30 in the first Test, will look to score big in the second Test against England. 4. Shubman Gill (Captain) 4 / 11 Shubman Gill will lead India in the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Gill, who scored a century on his Test debut during the first Test, will look to continue his good form with the bat in the second match against England. 5. Rishabh Pant (VC & WK) 5 / 11 Explosive middle-order batter and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant is all set to bat at No. 5 for India in the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Pant scored the centuries in both innings of the first Test in Leeds and fans would be expecting something similar for the left-handed batter in the second match of the series. 6. Karun Nair 6 / 11 Karun Nair made his comeback to India's Test lineup after a long long time during the first Test against England in Leeds. However, he failed to make a huge impact with the bat, scoring 0 and 20. He will look to turn things around while batting at No. 6 for India in the second Test in Edgbaston, Birmingham. 7. Ravindra Jadeja 7 / 11 Ravindra Jadeja will give that perfect balance to the Indian team with his all-round skills during the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. He is set to bat at No. 7 for India in the second Test and would look to improve his performance in all three departments of the game. 8. Nitish Reddy 8 / 11 With Shardul Thakur underperforming in the first Test, Nitish Reddy is likely to replace him in India's playing XI for the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Nitish Reddy is a replacement for Shardul Thakur and will give batting depth and medium-pace bowling to the Indian lineup. 9. Arshdeep Singh 9 / 11 According to an Indian Express report, Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled 44 overs during the first Test in Leeds, is likely to be rested for the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Arshdeep Singh is the front-runner to replace Bumrah in India's playing XI for the second Test. His left-arm angle adds variety to the Indian bowling lineup. 10. Mohammed Siraj 10 / 11 Mohammed Siraj is all set to lead the Indian pace attack in Jasprit Bumrah's absence in the second Test against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Despite a dip in red-ball form, Siraj is a key pacer for India. 11. Prasidh Krishna 11 / 11 Prasidh Krishna is likely to retain his spot in the Indian playing XI for the second Test against England despite being expensive in the first match of the series.
