IND Vs ENG: Why Is Chris Woakes Batting Left-Handed At The Oval?
Chris Woakes is a right-hander but he's going to bat left-handed at the Oval. Here's why.
England all-rounder Chris Woakes has come out to bat at number 11 in the final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy despite suffering from a serious shoulder injury. To help with the pain on the left side, he's going to bat left-handed, despite being a right-hander by trade.
Woakes suffered the injury while fielding on the first day of the Test. He went chasing after a drive from Karun Nair at mid-off and landed awkwardly on his left. He was whincing in pain immediately after and had to be helped out of the ground by the physio. Later, he was seen wearing a sling.
When wickets started to fall on Day 4 and again on Day 5, cameras panned onto him and he was ready in his whites. Woakes walked out to bat as Prasidh Krishna clean bowled Josh Tongue.
'With his left arm in a sling. Chris Woakes is coming out to bat. He is the best and bravest of us all ❤️" England cricket wrote in a post for him.
Earlier, Joe Root had confirmed that Woakes was 'desperate' to help the team.
'I assume so. He is desperate to do what it takes. There is a lot of things that have to happen before that," Root told the press after the fourth day's play.
'He's all in, like the rest of us," Root added. It's been that kind of series where guys have had to put bodies on the line. Hopefully it doesn't come to that but he had some throw-downs in here at one point so he's ready if needed. It shows the character and the person that he is, that he's prepared to put his body on the line like that for England and hopefully he doesn't have to, but if it does, to get us across the line and win us an incredible series," he added.
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