Mark Wood will cause lot of problems to Pakistan, says Paul Collingwood

The former England captain Paul Collingwood was talking to the reporters about the upcoming One-day-International (ODI) matches against Pakistan which is set to begin from Wednesday. Collingwood shared his predictions about the game and said that Mark Wood can be a real tough opponent for the Pakistani batsmen. The former skipper even mentioned that Wood will cause “lot of problems with the white ball”.

Collingwood is the present skipper of the Durham team where Wood played a major role in taking the team to the final of the NatWest T20 Blast. The 26-year-old fast bowler Wood claimed 4-25 during his allotted quota of overs which won him the Man of the Match award in the semi-final match against Yorkshire. The speedster took some big wickets during the game which included England’s Test batsmen Gary Ballance and Jonny Bairstow.

As quoted by ESPNCricinfo, the former skipper of the English team said, "He's ideal for this form of the game because he knows he's only got four overs to bowl and he's going to try to bowl every single one at full tilt. He's not worried about second or third spells. He's a genuine wicket-taker and in the current game of T20 cricket, where guys give themselves a base and want to hit out, it certainly gives you another thing to think about when you can get hit on the head at real pace.”

Collingwood added, "That's why he takes his wickets. He got good quality international batsmen out today (Saturday) with pure pace. He's a great man to have in a T20 side."

Mark Wood, who injured his ankle, last year, was out of the England squad since last October. He was recalled to the team for the five-match ODI series against Pakistan which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday. Since his injury, the speedster did not play many first-class matches.

The bowler has been playing List A and T20 cricket for Durham. But the Durham skipper seemed quite confident with Wood’s performance and he believes that the English bowler would not face any trouble dealing with the rigorous 50-over format.

Collingwood added, "Certainly in white ball (limited-overs), he's ready because, as I said he doesn't have to come back for second and third spells.” The former English skipper concluded, "He bowled 20-odd overs against Middlesex last week in a four-day (County Championship) game and obviously his body is still getting used to those sort of spells, but he is going to cause a lot of problems with the white ball, that's for sure.”