Never considered not going out: Chris Woakes opens up on batting with dislocated shoulder in Oval Test
Chris Woakes walked out to bat with a dislocated shoulder during England's 6-run defeat against India in the fifth Test at The Oval in London.
New Delhi: England all-rounder Chris Woakes has opened up about his shoulder injury and the courageous walk he made to the middle in the last and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at the Oval in London.
He came out to bat with his left hand wrapped in a sling and tucked inside his sweater after Prasidh dismissed Josh Tongue. The Men in Blue defeated England by six runs to level the five-match series at 2-2.
In an interview with The Guardian, the all-rounder said that he never considered not going out to bat, even if it had been 100 runs to win, as it is his duty to play for his team and the people watching from home.
He also said that it was nice to have the standing ovation, and some of the Indian players also came over to show their respect. Woakes revealed that he started practicing with one hand from Day 4 with England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick.
The all-rounder also revealed the exchanges he had with Team India captain Gill and his deputy Pant, who himself walked out to bat in the fourth Test with a broken foot.
"Shubman said something like: ‘That was incredibly brave,’” he said. I told him: ‘You’ve had an unbelievable series, well played, and credit to your team'. Both sets of players had been through the mill in the series and deserve credit for the show we put on," Woakes said to The Guardian.
Woakes also talked about Pant and said that he saw Rishabh had put an image of him on Instagram with a salute emoji, so he thanked him. He further added that Pant then sent him a voice note saying: "I hope all is OK, good luck with the recovery, and I hope we meet again out there someday".
'I heard a pop and knew I was in trouble'
He talked about his injury and wondered if it was career-threatening right after his slide on the first day of the Test. The all-rounder said that the outfield was wet from the rain, almost greasy, and his hand slipped as he landed, and his full body weight went through his shoulder.
"I heard a pop and knew I was in trouble. The pain came on pretty quickly and my arm was just hanging there. It was grim and my thoughts were racing. ‘Is it game over? Is it career done?’ It was a horrible place to be," he added.