With a decent average of above 25 in ODI and test cricket in batting and around 150 wickets at an average of around 29, Chris Woakes is next best all rounder for England after their captain Ben Strokes.
Indian fans must have remembered him dismissing Kohli on a very full ball to a easy catch in slips. But Woakes had always been the underrated player or we can say less celebrated player. But as and when needed, he gets the job done most of the times for his captain.
In the recently concluded thrilling Ashes series, Woakes took 19 wickets in the last three tests at astounding average of 18.14, helping England to level the series against Australia.
But back in 2022, when he was struggling with knee injury, he was sceptical of even be able to play cricket again.
“The way my knee felt, I wasn’t sure if I was going to play cricket again. You don’t always get what you want and what you’re kind of destined for. But I turned down the opportunity to go to the IPL (2023) for a number of reasons, one being the opportunity to potentially be a part of this series,” Woakes was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.”
“At no point did I think I’d be stood here. That’s not how far your mind works. You don’t think ‘I can’t wait to be player of the series in the Ashes’. You just want to be a part of it, contribute and hopefully win. So, to think that I’m stood here now actually… I think I need to let it sink in,” he added.
Woakes also emphasized on his priority to play cricket for England despite having lucrative franchise cricket offers.
“I want to play for England for as long as possible. Still, for me, playing international cricket is the pinnacle. You want to be a part of days like today. You don’t get it any anywhere else. So, you want this to last for as long as possible whilst you’re still performing, obviously. I think it’s important that the older guys in the team do pass on the knowledge to younger guys coming through,” said Woakes.
Earlier when Jofra archer was to be part of England, Chris Woakes raised his concern on his inclusion saying “If he was to come in and someone was to miss out, it would be extremely unfortunate , We’ve been a tight-knit group for the last two to three years, played some really strong cricket, won a lot of series.”
Now with Jofra not being able to play even in the shortest format, his days with England Cricket are done as reckoned by Kevin Peterson and Chris Woakes this time will have no complaints as far as test cricket is concerned as Moeen Ali has also left a vacant spot after he hung his boots for the second time from the test cricket.
