Good News For England! Express Pacer Reveals Return Date For India Tests

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England fast-bowler Mark Wood has started bowling attack and revealed which Test against India could see his return.
England fast-bowler Mark Wood is hoping to be fit and available for the fifth Test of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against India. The series began on Friday (June 20) in Headingley and will conclude with the last Test on July 31-August 04 at the Kennington Oval in London.
The express pacer suffered medial ligament damage in his left knee during the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the UAE. He underwent surgery in March and has been under rehab since. After the first day of the Headingley Test, Wood revealed that he had started bowling and had 'officially' begun his comeback.
'Rehab is going well. I've just started bowling very lightly, so I'm on the comeback trail now officially," Wood told BBC Test Match Special. 'I'm hoping still to play a part in this series, so I get to have a look at some of the players here who I might come up against. I'm still targeting probably the last Test. Anything before that is maybe a bit too soon. The last Test, I might not get there, but at the minute, that's still my focus that I might play a part."
'It's been a bit slow (comeback) to start with. I haven't been able to do a lot, but starting to speed up now, getting some bowling in, hopefully not too much longer. I am still hoping that I can play a part right at the end of the series, but I'll just wait and see," he added.
England was jolted by injuries before the start of the series. Wood was feared to miss all five Tests while Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer missed the first Test due to hamstring and thumb injuries, respectively. The latter two are said to be in contention for the second match, at Edgbaston, Birmingham, between July 2-6.
England's lack of experience in the bowling group was tangible on Friday as India put up 359/3 at Stumps with centuries from Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The leader of the attack, Chris Woakes (who has also returned from injury recently), looked off-color as Ben Stokes (2/43) and Brydon Carse (1/70) were the only ones among the wickets.
First Published:
June 21, 2025, 10:06 IST

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