Mark Wood exploring slow ball variations for T20 World Cup

MARK Wood got the ability to surprise batsmen with his pace but with the World Twenty20 seven months away the England pacer is make an effort to add variations to his bowling.

Currently, playing a key role in England's campaign in the T20I series against India, Wood realises the importance of having a slower ball in his arsenal in Indian conditions ahead of the T20 World Cup.

When playing alongside Shardul Thakur At Chennai Super Kings, made him realise that a slow yorker and a slow ball can be valuable assets for any bowler in limited-overs cricket.

"Watching their bowlers... I played with Shradul Thakur at Chennai (Super Kings). And he's got a new slower ball. So just looking at that and how well that's worked here, it's something that I'm trying to adapt into my game," Wood told during a media interaction on Wednesday (17).

"My role has been pretty clear, the plans that I have been trying to do. Behind the scenes, I'm still trying to learn new things, slow balls try to get that on my yorker ball and so there are always things to improve on.

"These are the conditions we're gonna come up against in the World Cup, so it's trying to get the right skills in place to be able to adapt on any given surface or the type of pitches we might come across here," he explained.

Wood has so far done well in the ongoing T20 series and hopes his performances will help him book a place in the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

"It gives me a chance to prove myself in this series and ultimately we all want to be part of that group that plays in the World Cup and hopefully wins the World Cup for England.

"We've got plenty of backups, people go in and out of form, and injuries will come and go. So it's important that, as a group, no one takes a sport for granted." Wood said.