“I always felt like his bat was big” - Mark Wood names 3 Indians among most difficult batters after ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

England ace pacer Mark Wood has picked India’s current ODI skipper Rohit Sharma as the most difficult batter to bowl at after the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Wood pointed out that while Rohit enjoys playing short ball, it was also his weakness. He stressed that the Mumbai batter, on his day, has had an upper hand against him.

Wood added that Virat Kohli equally challenged him unless he bowled him outside the fourth or fifth stump line, which troubled the former India skipper during his last Test series in Australia.

On Wednesday (August 27), the 35-year-old told ‘The Overlap Cricket’ YouTube channel:

“58:16 – Yeah, in different stages of my career, I would say Rohit Sharma. Difficult because against the short ball, you feel like you, for myself, I’ve got a chance of getting him out, but also if he’s on that day, he smokes it. So, he was difficult. I always felt like his bat was big, just kept getting wider.”

“58:42 – Kohli, obviously. Unbelievable competitor, someone that I felt you have this weakness of fourth, fifth stump drag him in. We seem to never miss him when I bowl him there. So, that was difficult,” he added.

Mark Wood vs the star Indian duo:

Wood vs Rohit Sharma: 229 runs and five dismissals (across formats)

Wood vs Virat Kohli: 99 runs and one dismissal (across formats)

---

“He’s such a good eye” – Mark Wood on the challenges of bowling against star India wicketkeeper

Mark Wood further shared that it was tough for him to tackle India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant because of his unconventional shots. The lanky pacer said that the bowlers needed to bowl a mixture of deliveries, including slower ones, bouncers, and yorkers, to stay on top of him.

Wood said in the same video:

“59:42 – I think you’ve got to hold your nerve. That’s basically what I would say. It’s because I think you kind of be so unpredictable that then that plays into his hands that he can just stand there and he waits for anything difficult. But if you have the, if you’re the same all the time, then he can, he’s got such a good eye, he sort of hits it where he wants.”

“So, I think you’ve got to have a mixture of hold your nerve to maybe the old ball that’s a bit unpredictable, whether it’s a slower ball or you might change up with a really high bouncer or a fast yorker like something slightly different,” he added.

Interestingly, Wood has played just one Test, one ODI, and two T20Is against Pant.

Mark Wood vs Rishabh Pant: 35 runs and one dismissal (across formats).