England cricket team pacer Chris Woakes revealed how he ended up painfully dislocating his shoulder on Day 1 of IND vs ENG 5th Test at the Kennington Oval and the ordeal that followed leading up to him walking out to bat one-armed. The fast bowler, who walked off the field grimacing in pain after sustaining the injury while fielding, walked out to a standing ovation from not just the fans but also the Indian team on Day 5 as England were on the verge of defeat. While Woakes luckily did not aggravate his injury by facing any deliveries, he isn’t a happy man as his team went on to lose the contest.
Woakes’ shoulder injury and how he was desperate to bat
In an interview with The Guardian, Woakes revealed that his hand had slipped as he landed while trying to save a boundary and the full weight of his body went through his shoulder, following which he heard a pop. He said that at that time, he had thoughts of whether it could be a career-ending injury coupled with instant pain. Woakes said that England’s physiotherapist spent 30 painful minutes trying to get his shoulder back into the place and that at the end of it, he did get some amount of relief.
“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. We got it into a makeshift sling with my jumper and got off the field,” Woakes said.
Woakes said that the very next day, he had approached England head coach Brendon McCullum telling him that he was ready to bat if needed. However, he was turned down. Eventually, he was forced to walk out to bat in the 1st session on Day 5 as England were nine down. While Woakes did want to face a delivery, he was also happy that he did not face any bouncers while batting one-handed and with the other hand.
What Gill told a brave Woakes
“Shubman said something like: ‘That was incredibly brave,’” Woakes says. “I told him: ‘You’ve had an unbelievable series, well played, and credit to your team.’ I saw Rishabh [Pant] had put an image of me on Instagram with a salute emoji, so I replied thanking him: ‘Appreciate the love and hope the foot is OK,’ etc. He then sent me a voice note saying: ‘I hope all is OK, good luck with the recovery and I hope we meet again out there some day.’ I obviously said sorry for the broken foot,” Woakes added.
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