England fast bowler Mark Wood has shared a remarkable and hilarious story from his time in the Indian Premier League, revealing how a franchise owner once offered to fly him on a private jet to make sure he was seriously ill.Speaking on the BBC’s Strategic Time Out podcast, Wood recalled falling ill in the middle of a season after playing a handful of matches. What happened next, he said, was an extraordinary level of attention from the franchisee, including constant medical monitoring.“After about five games I wasn’t feeling well, and the (next) game was about three days. Every half hour, the doctor would stay back, come into my room, check my vitals,” Wood said.The situation soon took an unusual turn when the team owner personally checked his availability.“I remember one day the owner called me, ‘How are you feeling? Ready to go?’ And I said, ‘Honestly, I haven’t eaten or drunk anything, I still can’t get out of bed’. He went, ‘We’ll get you another doctor, we’ll do this and that’,” she revealed.‘I’ll send a private plane’Despite Wood’s condition, the owner remained determined to get him into the game – so much so that he came up with an eye-popping solution.“The next day, it’s the boss again, ‘How are you feeling?’ And I said, ‘Honestly, I’m still not well’. He then said, ‘I will send a private plane, you sit in the plane, play games. Then I’ll bring the ship right back and get you back to your bed,” Wood said, laughing at the memory.The England fast bowler admitted he was briefly tempted by the unrealistic offer and even sought advice from his father.“So I called my dad and I was like, ‘Dad, they’re going to send a private plane.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, but how do you feel?’ I said, ‘To be honest, if I stand up, I don’t feel well… I might faint’. He said, ‘You are not well’. But I was like, ‘Dad, it’s a private plane’ (laughs),” Wood added.Ultimately, he decided against playing, but not before appreciating the sheer novelty of the situation.“For that split second, I was like, ‘This is the best thing that’s probably ever happened to me in my life, it’s unbelievable’,” he said.Wood has had a short IPL career, characterized by Chennai Super Kings And Lucknow Supergiants took 11 wickets in five matches.
