Pulling out of IPL was a tough call - Wood

English pacer Mark Wood has revealed that opting out of the IPL was a hard decision as he could have earned life changing money. The pacer, however, belives that he couldn't have given his full commitment and that would have been unfair to the franchises. He said that he didn't want to let down the franchises.

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"It wasn't until the last minute. I didn't want to go into the auction and then let a team down at a later date, I didn't think that was fair. I was to-ing and fro-ing back and forth because I thought it would have improved me as a cricketer and there was a huge opportunity to improve my wage by going there. It would have been a huge opportunity for me and although it was life-changing money, I'm comfortable with my decision and I hope it serves me well," Wood reflection on his decision to pull out of 2021 IPL auction.

Wood along with Jonny Bairstow will join the English squad ahead of the day night test against India, starting from February 24 in Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad. He said that he'll be spending six weeks in India and If he would have played the IPL, it would have 14 weeks of staying away from the family.

"Couple of things really. First and foremost it was my family. I'm going to spend six weeks here in India and it would have been another eight weeks on top of that so that's 14 weeks. We're in a strange situation with covid and we can't see our families while we're with England like we usually do and I wanted to be able to switch off, go home and recharge for the second reason which of course is being ready for England.

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"I'm trying to prioritise that and be ready for later on in the year when we've got loads of cricket going on. I don't want my body to fail me or be a bit bruised mentally or physically for the back end of the year when it's the World Cup and ashes and the summer when it's a big series against India at home. So I wanted to be ready and available and have some family time as well because there is a lot of time away from home this year."

Australian pacer Jhye Richardson, South African all rounder Chris Morris and Kyle Jamieson from New Zealand earned hefty deals in the mini-auction in Chennai. Wood, who’s only played a game for CSK in IPL hopes to feature in the money-rich league in the upcoming seasons.