New Delhi [India], February 10 (ANI): England bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes on Saturday opened up on India batting talisman Virat Kohli’s unavailability in the Test series against England and said that “the fans will be disappointed”.
Woakes told ANI that it would have been amazing to see the former India skipper play in the series.
Woakes hoped that Kohli would find himself in a good place whenever he plays his next match. He added that the cricket fraternity has been lucky to see Kohli appearing in so many games.
“Obviously the fans will be disappointed. It would have been amazing to see Virat Kohli play in the series. I hope he is okay and his family is okay. I just hope whenever he comes back to cricket he will be in a good place. I think we have been very lucky to have him play in so many games. It’s been a great series to watch, I am sure, the guys (England Cricket Team) love playing in India. Amazing place to play cricket. I think more exciting Test matches are coming up,” Woakes said.
Earlier, Virat had withdrawn from the first two Tests due to personal reasons. Now, with the squad for the final three Tests issued on Saturday morning by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Virat’s absence has extended to the entire series.
Asked about India’s performance in the second Test match, he added that speedster Jasprit Bumrah was the “standout player”.
The English pacer added that it was nice seeing “fast bowling executed well especially”.
“I have managed to keep a look at the score but could not watch it. It seems like an amazing Test series. In the last Test match, Jasprit Bumrah was the standout player, he is a world-class player. Across all the formats, he is one of the best if not the best at the moment. It’s great to see fast bowling executed well especially in this condition,” he added.
Bumrah became the fastest Indian pacer to pick over 150 wickets in long-format cricket during the second day of the India-England Test match in Visakhapatnam.
The 34-year-old added that the third Test match will be very important since “it is the middle game of the series”.
“When you’re going to play India, obviously India will be the favourites. Team England knows what they need to do to compete and they will see where the series is now, 1-1. The next match will be very important as it is the middle game of the series,” Woakes said.
“I think England got a great chance to win, my prediction is that England will definitely win one more game in the series, and it would be a decider,” he added.
Asked about his experience in the ongoing International League T20 (ILT20), Woakes said that it was “good” and would like to win a few more matches in the tournament.
“It’s been very good, would like to have a couple of more wins under our belt. As a team, we had a good time and connected well. Dubai. Abu Dhabi and Sharjah a good places to play cricket,” he added.
Asked about the difference between ILT20 and the Indian Premier League (IPL), he said that IPL is more competitive.
“Generally every league in the world is different based on the conditions and particularly here in ILT20 you have to play in three venues. However, in the IPL you have to play in more venues and more travel is included as well, which is sometimes very tricky and challenging. IPL is hard to compete against because in India the standard is extremely high,” he added. (ANI)
