IPL 2018: Mark Wood returns home to play County Cricket

Mark Wood has played only a solitary game in the IPL 2018.

Published - 08 May 2018, 17:54 IST | Updated - 08 May 2018, 17:54 IST

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Mark Wood was drafted in by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the auction of Indian Premier League (IPL) back in January. However, he has played only the opening game against the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium and was taken apart by the batsmen. Thereafter, he hasn’t played any game for the celebrated franchise.

The cricketer will now return to England to play the two-match Test series against Pakistan. The cricketer has recently revealed that he will be returning earlier and play for Durham in order to get himself prepared for the series. He has also not been a part of the CSK setup ever since the opening game and hence has resorted to the move.

The first Test of the series will be played at the iconic Lords Cricket Ground followed by the second game at Headingley in Leeds. Pakistan toured the nation previously in 2016 where they managed to draw the series by 2-2. They won the first Test at the Lords Cricket Stadium, but slumped to a couple of defeats at Manchester and Birmingham respectively.

England in a quest to turn their fortunes around

Nevertheless, they didn’t bog down and turned over the hosts by ten wickets at the Kennington Oval in London. Yasir Shah turned to be their highest wicket taker with 19 wickets in four matches. However, this time around they won’t be having the services of the leg-break bowler. On the other hand, England would look to shed the disappointment of their tour of New Zealand and come back stronger.

Apart from Mark Wood, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes has also been called back from the IPL. Meanwhile, the decision might come as a body blow for them as the tournament heads towards the playoffs. However, Wood coming back makes sense as he had bleak chances of playing for the CSK after being omitted following the opening game.