England fast bowler Mark Wood has revealed a bizarre story from his time in the Indian Premier League as he recalled how the franchise owner once offered to fly him on a private jet just to play one match in the tournament.
In a BBC podcast, Wood recounted an incident from a season in which he had appeared in several games before falling ill. The England pacer said the team management, including the owner, are desperate to have him available despite his condition. So the team owner offered to send a private plane, fly him out, let him play a game, and then fly him back to the hotel.
It is important to note that the English fast bowler did not have an extensive run in the Indian Premier League. Wood’s IPL career was limited to just five matches across two franchises. He made a solitary appearance for Chennai Super Kings before making four appearances for Lucknow Super Giants in 2023.
The small sample size, combined with his own recollection of playing “about five games” a season, strongly suggests that the incident occurred during his time in Lucknow.
This context becomes important as Wood further revealed that the owner of the IPL franchise personally called him in an attempt to get him to play the match and even offered to fly him in a private jet.
In the interview, Wood recalled that he became seriously ill after playing four matches in the tournament. He had three days to recover for the match, but it was unlikely he would make it in time. What followed was perhaps equal parts funny and equal parts sad.
?? The Crazy IPL Story of Mark Wood’s Private Jet: ??
He said??? :
“I had a fever and was in no condition to play. The owner called me and said, ‘I’m going to send a private jet. You fly in, play the game, then I’ll fly you right back to your bed.’
This is probably pic.twitter.com/v0AItPHm0M— AK 45 (@ImRo45_Club) May 3, 2026
HERE IS MARK WOOD’S IPL STORY
“I’ll tell you a story that wasn’t fun. I wasn’t very well. About five games in there I got sick and the next game was in about three days.
So every half hour the doctor who stayed behind came to my room and took my vitals and tried to get me right.
I remember one day the owner of an IPL team called me and said, ‘How are we doing? Are we ready to go?”
I thought to myself, ‘Honestly, I didn’t eat or drink anything. I still can’t get out of bed. I hope so, you know if I can think’
And he said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’ll get another doctor. We’ll give you this, we’ll do that, we’ll do that.’
So I have these three doctors in my room giving me tablets and trying to help me.
The next day he says, ‘How do we feel? What is this update again? How are you feeling?’
I was like, ‘Honestly, I’m still not feeling well. I had nothing.’
And he said, ‘But I’ll tell you what, I’ll send a private plane. You get on the plane, play the game, I’ll get the plane back and you can go back to your bed.”
So I called my dad and I was like, ‘Dad, they’re going to send a private plane.’
He said, “Yeah, but how are you feeling?”
I was like, ‘Honestly, when I get up, I don’t feel good. I might, you know, pass out.’
He said, “You’re wrong.”
But I was like, ‘Dad, it’s a private plane’ (laughs).
So I didn’t go. But for that split second, I was like, ‘This is probably the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. This is incredible.’
I mean, I might as well have been on a private jet. This could be pretty special.”
WAS MARK WOOD SUPPOSED TO FLY?
While Wood did not name the franchise or the owner, it looks like a story from his time with Lucknow Super Giants. Despite the extraordinary lengths the franchise was willing to go to, Wood chose common sense over curiosity and stood his ground. Still, he admitted, for a brief moment it was hard to resist the idea of taking in an IPL game on a private jet, even though his body had other plans.
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Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
03 May 2026 23:22 IST
