Mark Wood one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket right now is blamed by ex-English cricketer Matt Prior. He replaced Jofra Archer but has not lived up to his expectations. Mark Wood has struggled against Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill in this series. Mark Wood conceded 57 runs in 8 overs in 2nd over and his short ball ploy wasn’t successful nor was his attacking stumps strategy.
After losing the five-T20I series 4-1 and giving up an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the ODI rubber, former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has joined a number of commentators in critiquing the Jos Buttler-led men’s team’s performances in the white-ball series in India.
On an excellent Cuttack pitch, England failed to defend a poor 305 and lost the match by four wickets. Prior focused on the bowlers and fielding, claiming that they made it too easy for India and Rohit Sharma, who reached 119 off 90 balls, while Kevin Pietersen had questioned the lack of “hunger” from the hitters to turn their starts into large hundreds during the mid-innings break.
“Mark Wood Bowling Quick But It’s Not Enough” – Matt Prior
Matt prior added to his comments saying :
“I think the worry is how easily India chased 305 down. Okay, they lost a few wickets at the end, but that was more boredom than anything as they were trying to get the game finished,” Prior remarked on TNT Sports. “Mark Wood is bowling quick, but that isn’t enough on these wickets. You have to be accurate, execute properly, and put batters under pressure. England had no answer for Rohit,”
“Pace on, pace off, Mark Wood was steaming in – but everything England tried, Rohit counterpunched. He is a class act and played a belligerent and classy innings. England got over 300, and the opening partnership is working, while Root got runs on the board. But they don’t look in great form as a team. They say you can tell where a team is at by their fielding, and there were some sloppy mistakes.”
For the seventh time in seven white-ball encounters thus far, England was bowled out by the Indian pacers at Cuttack; they haven’t been able to do so with the ball once.
“They just need to sharpen up” Prior on England
“For me, you could tell they haven’t played 50-over cricket for a long time. There were just sloppy mistakes. It was just a bit lackluster. For England, the talent is there, the ability is there, but they just need to sharpen up in a number of areas. We know how talented the squad is and the team is, but you’ve got to go out and execute your plans on the field.”
The third ODI will be played in Ahmedabad on February 12, Wednesday.