Mark Wood
Mark Wood (Image Credit: Twitter)

England’s speedster Mark Wood has been declared fit for the fourth Test at Oval between England and India starting on September 2. He was ruled out of the third Test after jarring his right shoulder while fielding during India’s second essay.

Following Stuart Broad’s injury which ruled him out of the series, England was desperate to avoid further casualties, especially in the bowling department. Unfortunately for them, Wood sustained a jarred shoulder on the fourth day of the Lord’s Test, thereby getting ruled out for the next.

England vs India 2021: Mark Wood Confirmed To Be Fit For The Fourth Test At Oval
Mark Wood [Image-Twitter]
His participation has now been confirmed for the 4th Test, however, as England has a few more options to bank on in the bowling department. Although Craig Overton did a great job backing up when he got his opportunity in place of Wood, he may have to make way for the 31-year-old.

Wood adds a lot of variety to the English squad, as he depends on his express pace and bounce to do the job for him. Unlike the others who rely on the conditions to extract some amount of swing, Wood is capable of knocking over batsmen with his speed, as displayed in the third innings at Lord’s.

How Craig Overton filled Mark Wood’s shoes at Headingley

England preferred to bring in Craig Overton over Saqib Mahmood in place of Mark Wood. The move paid dividends for them, as he chipped in with three wickets each in both innings. Overton dismissed a set Rohit Sharma in the first innings before coming back to dismiss the tail-enders. He finished with figures of 3/14 as India was bundled out for 78.

Read More  Watch: Hardik Pandya targeted by SRH fans with 'Rohit, Rohit' chants in IPL 2024
Craig Overton
Craig Overton. (Image credit-independent.co.uk)

In their batting essay, the English batsmen stacked up a mountain of runs on the back of Joe Root’s magnificent hundred. Overton also contributed with a useful 32 off 42 balls lower down the order, which helped push his team’s lead past 300 on Day 2.

He also provided the breakthrough in India’s second innings, when he dismissed KL Rahul with a beauty. Although his partner, Ollie Robinson stole the limelight with his second five-wicket haul in Tests, Overton worked away at the other end and reaped rewards with a couple more wickets of the lower order.

England
England won by an innings and 76 runs to level the series 1-1. (Image: Twitter)

The hosts won the Test match to level the series 1-1 and keep the series well and truly alive. It could be harsh to replace Overton with Mark Wood especially after the impact he had at Headingley.

Also Read – 6 Batsmen With Most 50+ Scores In Tests in 2021