Mark Wood believes England are now ready for even the most extreme spinning conditions amid speculation about the pitch that could be provided for the second Test in Vizag now India trail in the series.
England pulled off what Wood described as “one of our greatest wins” in the first Test to take a 1-0 series lead, with the fast bowler warning that India “now have to come up with a different plan” to combat them.
This may involve asking for different pitches, either much flatter to test England’s young spin attack, or much sharper-turning to help their own spinners. The pitch in Hyderabad was widely seen as a good surface, spinning from early in the match but with big totals possible, as Ollie Pope’s epic 196 showed.
In England’s last tour to India, they won the opening Test on a flat surface in Chennai, only to see the ball turn much more aggressively for the remainder of the series, which they eventually lost 3-1 having made a top score of 205 in seven innings.
Dinesh Karthik, the former India wicketkeeper, told the BBC that he expected the pitch in Vizag to turn plenty once more.
“We’ll see a similar pitch, one that aids spin and makes batting harder as the game progresses,” he said. “Vizag is a coastal town. It will be a lot warmer during the day. The pitch will have as much bounce as Hyderabad and I’m pretty sure it will turn as much, if not more. I’m expecting a game that will again be dominated by spin.”
England, armed with a top seven who have all toured India before, are looking to adopt a no-complaints culture when it comes to pitches, and Wood said they have prepared for anything. In their training camp in Abu Dhabi before the tour, England intentionally roughed up pitches so they were ready for even the most extreme conditions.
“It could,” said Wood when asked if the pitches will change markedly, as they did on the last tour. “I don’t know what they will produce. India have got the potential to produce any wicket here. I’ve played in World Cup games and IPL games where it’s seamed, flat pitches, spinning wickets. They have the potential to do any wicket they want.
“But now, we’ve given them something to think about. It’s not a foregone conclusion that we are going to turn up here and they’re going to spin us out.
“That was one of our greatest wins. That tells you how big it was. Now we know we can do it, it’s more that we have given India something to think about. They now have to come up with a different plan. It might be for Ollie Pope if he is reverse-sweeping, or different tactics.
“Ollie Pope has played a fantastic knock, they’re now going to have to go analyse, like we would do if things didn’t go well, and analyse how they are going to try and combat that.
“We’re playing differently as well [compared to 2021]. It’s not just plodding forward and trying to survive. We’re trying to put the pressure back on India. Their spinners were going at over four an over – that would have never happened in the last series. If there is an opportunity now, batters are trying to put that pressure back on.
“Yes, Abu Dhabi helped, putting sand on wickets and preparing that way. Even though I know some people in the media didn’t think it was a good idea to go there. But it looks pretty good now that we’ve done that training and worked hard.”
Wood says England are expecting a backlash from India.
“Of course, they are a top team,” he said. “Even coming here before the series, everyone expects India to roll you over. They have not lost here since 2012. It felt like we could have a go – it’s a free hit because they don’t lose here very often.
“We’ve won one game, it’s a hell of an achievement but I don’t think we need to get too far ahead of ourselves. Don’t build this up now and say, ‘ah we’re going to win’. It’s the same again. Go into the next game with the same belief, same process and hopefully get the same result.”
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