Mark Wood ends IPL stint with Chennai Super Kings to prepare for England’s upcoming season

England cricket team will host Pakistan, India and Australia for series across all three formats this summer and Mark Wood ended his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with Chennai Super Kings to return home and prepare for the season.

cricket Updated: May 09, 2018 11:12 IST
England cricket team’s Mark Wood, who was in the roster of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2018), will return home to prepare for the English summer with his County team Durham. (Getty Images)

Fast bowler Mark Wood will return home to England from the Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) to prepare for the summer, where England cricket team face Pakistan and India in a Test series, and Australia in a five-match ODI series. England will also play a solitary ODI against Scotland on June 10.

Wood, one of quickest bowlers in England, was in the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) roster for IPL 2018.

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However, he played only one match — against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in the tournament opener (and went wicketless for 49 runs). Now, it has been decided that Wood will return home to prepare for the English summer with his County team Durham.

According to Cricbuzz, the announcement was made on Wood’s Instagram page. “The decision has been made for me to return home to England to prepare for the English summer,” wrote the right-arm pacer.

“Having worked so hard to get back into the test team, and because I’m not currently not in the CSK side, I am coming home to play for Durham to hopefully put my name in the hat for Test match selection,” Wood added.

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The other English players -- Ben Stokes (Rajasthan Royals), Chris Woakes (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Moeen Ali (Royal Challengers Bangalore) -- will also leave IPL 2018 at the end of the group stage to prepare for the season ahead.

England will play a two-Test series against Pakistan starting May 24 at Lord’s, while the final of the Indian Premier League will be held on May 27 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The second Test between England and Pakistan will begin June 1, and the five-match ODI series against Australia starts on June 13. England and Australia will also play a one-off T20I on June 27.

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The much-anticipated Indian cricket team’s tour of England begins on July 3 with a three-match T20I series, followed by a three-match ODI series.

England and India will then proceed to the five-match Test series for the Pataudi Trophy, with the first Test starting in Birmingham on August 1.