ENG vs IND 2018: We Can Nullify Kuldeep Yadav By Denying Him Wickets In Early Overs: Mark Wood

England pacer Mark Wood, on Monday, said that the hosts should work on denying Kuldeep Yadav early success if they are looking to win the third and series-deciding ODI on Tuesday.

Kuldeep has turned out to be a flash in thorn for England so far. The English batsmen have looked a little bit out of sorts  against the chinaman spinner. He has brutally exposed England’s frailties against spin with two career-best spells. In the first T20I, it was his 5-wicket haul that helped India take the lead. The hosts managed to handle Kuldeep well in the following game as the spinner went wicketless for 34 runs.

However, Kuldeep once again tormented England in the first ODI.  Asked to bat first, England were off to a good start. Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy added 71 runs in ten overs. However, the game turned on its head once Kohli introduced Kuldeep in the attack.

He dismissed Roy on the very second ball of his first over. The tweaker then went on dismiss Bairstow, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and David Willey to finish with career-best figures of six for 25.

In the second game too, he picked up three wickets although England managed to hit him for 68 runs and eventually win the game by 86 runs. One feature of Kuldeep’s bowling so far has been his ability to take early wickets.

And Wood believes England should work on denying the left-arm spinner early breakthroughs.

“It’s definitely a plus point for our players to bat well against him (Kuldeep; in the second match). I know he still took wickets but we managed to get some runs against him and put him under a little bit of pressure,” Woods said at the pre-match press conference.

“I think the main thing is he keeps getting wickets in his first over. So I think that’s the key going into this game. If he gets a wicket in early overs his confidence is up. So if we can try to nullify that wicket-taking option that he’s got straight away, then hopefully we can shift the momentum against him to us,” he added.

The fast-bowler further said England would consider the series finale as a must-win game akin to a World Cup semi-final or final to adapt to pressure situations accordingly. The hosts have already lost the T20Is and would be keen to win the ODIs in order to gain momentum ahead of the five-match Test series.

“Momentum is the right word. There was a disappointment after the first game. We knew what we needed to address to get the second game right. It was a big performance in that game, a great win. Eoin Morgan keeps the side pretty even making sure highs are not too high or lows too low. We knew we needed to get better. It was not doom and gloom. We just knew what we needed to get better,” he said.

“I think for Test match side of things, it is great to get certain people out or get runs against them but it is more of impact for World Cup. If we can use this game as a semi-final, or a final, a must-win with the pressure on we can learn what we are doing wrong if we don’t win or what we are doing right if we do win. Over the past year we have dealt with these situations well and hopefully we can carry on that trend tomorrow,” he added.

England bounced back pretty well in the second game after the heavy 8-wicket loss in the series-opener. Almost everything clicked for the hosts as they thrashed India by 86 runs to level the series. Batting first, they scored a daunting 322 for 7 on a tough Lord’s track. The bowlers then joined the party by bowling out India for 236.