ENG vs IND: Mark Wood, Chris Woakes Available For Selection For England

Cricket Image for ENG vs IND: Mark Wood, Chris Woakes Available For Selection For England (Image Source: Google)

England have both Mark Wood and Chris Woakes available for selection for the fourth Test that begins at The Oval from Thursday. It eases pressure on the team management that is looking to give break one of their two frontline pacers, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson.

"I think the great thing is that we have both of them fit and available. I think we will see how everyone pulls up over the next couple of days," said captain Joe Root to media during a virtual interaction on Tuesday.

"It is nice to have both of them available for selection. Mark [Wood] obviously suffered a freak injury, which was a bit of a scare. He will only get stronger going into the game. It was good to see him operate at full pace," added Root.

Wood was injured during the second Test at Lord's and was forced to bowl during the fifth day's play despite the shoulder injury. His place was taken in the third Test by Craig Overton, who too performed well against the fidgety Indians.

Woakes, a bowling all-rounder whose century powered England to a win at Lord's against India in the 2018 series, could not start the series.

"For Woaksy (Chris Woakes), it has been an absolute nightmare. Whether it is Covid that has kept him out due to close contact or a freak injury, he has felt he has not played huge amount of cricket. But when he has been as good as he ever has been. He was our best player last summer. To have him back around things is great. To have him back makes us strong," said Root further.

Read More