“His bat kept getting wider” - Mark Wood reveals the toughest batter he has bowled to in his career

England pacer Mark Wood, who is termed as one of the quickest bowlers in the modern era, has shared his insights on the challenges posed by Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Rishabh Pant whenever they come out to bat.

Speaking on the Overlap Podcast, the 35-year-old seamer has asserted that he always felt like Rohit Sharma’s bat was big and just kept getting wider whenever he came out to bowl to the Indian skipper.

“Yeah, in different stages of my career, I would say Rohit Sharma. Difficult because against the short ball, you feel like you’ve got a chance of getting him out, but also if he’s on that day, he smokes it. So, he was difficult. I always felt like his bat was big, just kept getting wider,” Wood stated.

Moreover, the England seamer also talked about India's talismanic batter Virat Kohli, calling him an unbelievable competitor on the field. Notably, both Kohli and Rohit missed out on the recent England tour, having retired from the Test format.

“Kohli, obviously. Unbelievable competitor, someone that I felt you have this weakness of fourth, fifth stump, drag him in. We seem to never miss him when I bowl him there. So, that was difficult,” he said.

Eventually, Wood took out Rishabh Pant’s name as the keeper-batter has given a lot of sleepless nights to a lot of bowlers across the globe, especially in the longest format of the game, with his unpredictable nature of batting. 

“I think you’ve got to hold your nerve. That’s basically what I would say. He can be so unpredictable that it plays into his hands. If you’re the same all the time, he’s got such a good eye, he hits it where he wants. You need to mix it up with a slower ball, a high bouncer, or a fast yorker,” Wood concluded.

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