By Bharath Ramaraj
The second ball that Mark Wood bowled at Delhi Capitals’ Prithvi Shaw in IPL 2023 was fast and pounded hard into the deck. Shaw found himself in an awkward position as he attempted to pull, with the ball whistling past the edge. With the batter pushed back, Wood soon pitched one fuller,,and zoomed it on the stumps. Shaw’s response was an expansive drive played without conviction. He heard the death rattle behind him.
The way Wood dislodged Shaw gave insight into how he had sowed the seeds of doubt in the opener’s head. This is what quality fast bowling does – it creates some panic among the batters in the middle, and also in the dressing room. It is the fear of getting hit that gives the batter sleepless nights. On a hot day in Lucknow, Wood did all of that as he ran through the cream of DC’s batting unit and finished with a five-for.
The highlight of his game-breaking spell was Mitchell Marsh’s wicket. Marsh is renowned for playing on the up and through the line. He tried exactly the same while facing Wood. Just that he was up against a genuine quick. Wood zeroed in on a good length and nipped one back off the seam to sneak through Marsh’s defence. The dismissal was also a cameraman’s dream, as Marsh’s bat finished above his head, the elbow was high up, and he held the pose of his attempted shot for a second or two. Perhaps he was surprised and shocked.
Wood wasn’t done yet. He once again hit the deck hard and this time employed the short ball to remove Sarfaraz Khan. More than pace, it was his hit-the-deck skills and direction that rattled Sarfaraz. The Ashington-born fast bowler followed Sarfaraz all the way, with the middle-order bat ramping one to fine leg. The obvious intention was to ramp it to third man but on that night, Wood’s short ball was too good for him.
Wood also wrapped up the innings by bagging the last two wickets to fall. With DC missing out on the services of Anrich Nortje, LSG certainly held the psychological cards for the game.
Fast bowling isn’t just restricted to mundane analysis. But it is the thrill of witnessing fluent and long strides leading up to the crease, followed by the wrecking finish.
As Wood himself said in his Autobiography – The Wood Life: “So you’re probably thinking, yeah, bowling quick sounds like an awful lot of hassle. But let me tell you, when you’re in the zone, there’s nothing like it. You can’t feel the grass beneath your feet. Your legs feel light. You don’t even really feel like you’re sprinting. All you can feel is that build-up, build-up, build-up, build-up, build-up… and then WHOOSH!”
In 2023, Wood might be the toast of IPL, but the journey here has been a tough grind. He made his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s in 2015. Although he bagged a three-for in the first innings, he was at best a bowler who bowled with waspish or irritable pace. As further evidence, there was a Test against New Zealand in Christchurch, in 2018, where Wood seemed to strain every sinew in his body but his peak pace was around 88mph.
With time, he has made a few tweaks to his action and also taken the help of legendary fast bowler Michael Holding. He subsequently lengthened his run-up and also aimed to gather momentum rather than rushing to the crease. The result was a blistering spell in a Test against West Indies at St. Lucia in 2019, where he bagged a five-for. Since then, Wood has consistently bowled at rapid pace, which includes the 2019 World Cup, Wanderers Test, Hobart Test, in Pakistan, 2022 T20 World Cup and now the IPL.
Injuries, however, have continued to act as hurdles in his path. Lucknow will hope that Wood stays fit right through the course of IPL 2023, and continues to put fear in the minds of opposition batters.