England fast bowler Mark Wood insisted Wednesday that winning the toss is not the deciding factor in the Twenty20 series against India. England lead the five-match series 2-1 after their eight-wicket triumph in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. But so far each team that has won the toss, has chosen to bat second and won. The dew that becomes heavier as the evening wears on and makes bowling more difficult is a worry for both teams. Rival captains Eoin Morgan and Virat Kohli both expressed disappointment when they lost the chance to bowl first.
“I think the toss has been made a bigger issue than what it actually is,” said Wood, who took three for 31 in Tuesday’s game.
“Our focus has not been on the toss – it’s been solely on performances.”
“If either team has to bat first, they both still think they can win. I don’t think there’s a huge disadvantage.
“It’s not seen as a huge disadvantage, it’s just both teams prefer to chase because you know exactly what you need to go for and have seen how the pitch is playing. It’s been made a bigger deal than it needs to be in the Twenty20s,” he added.
Wood said that England and India, first and second in the world T20 rankings, both have their batting lineups set up to “chase” a total.
England can seal the series with a win in the fourth game in Ahmedabad and Wood said it would be a “brilliant achievement”.
“It can give us huge confidence going into the English summer and the World Cup being here.”
The 31-year-old, who missed the second game because of a bruised heel, said he has been using the tour to find out more about the Indian conditions he could face in the World Cup in October.
“I’m watching their bowlers. I played with Shardul Thakur at Chennai and he’s got a new slower ball,” said Wood.
“I’m looking at that and how well that’s worked – is that something I could try and adapt to my game.”
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Wood said he was also trying to improve his yorker.
“There are always things to improve on, these are the conditions we’re going to come up against in the World Cup so it’s about trying to get the right skills in place to adapt on any given surface.”
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