Chris Woakes reveals Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant's touching gesture towards him: 'I obviously said sorry'

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3 days ago

Chris Woakes, who came out to bat despite injuring his left hand at the Oval, has revealed how Indian stars Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant acknowledged his heroics and his replies to them. read more
With Chris Woakes injured and in no shape to bat, it was virtually over for England on Day 5 of the Oval Test when Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna had taken three of the four wickets required to win the match. However, in what could be defined as an anti-climax for India, an injured Woakes, with his left hand in a sling, made the long walk to the middle. The crowd at the Oval stood up and hailed the player as he decided to step up for his country, when it was in dire need.
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While India went on to win the match by six runs, the courage that Woakes showed will remain etched in the minds of fans who witnessed it. Moreover, the players also realised that they were witnessing something exceptional, and hence, despite the tense situation in the match, the Indian team did not forget that it is a gentleman's game in the end, and acknowledged the valour displayed by Woakes.
Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant's grand gesture for Chris Woakes
Indian captain Shubman Gill made sure to praise Woakes for the bravery he showed in trying to take his team past the finish line.
'Shubman said something like: 'That was incredibly brave,'" Woakes told The Guardian. 'I told him: 'You've had an unbelievable series, well played, and credit to your team.'"
Not only Shubman, but Rishabh Pant also hailed the effort of Woakes by dedicating an Instagram story to him. Upon noting the post made by Pant, Woakes replied with a 'thank you' to him and, in turn, wished him a speedy recovery.
Notably, Pant suffered a toe fracture after being hit by a delivery bowled by Woakes in the fourth Test and did not feature in the fifth and final Test.
'I saw Rishabh 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," he further added.
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Thus, while the series saw many occasions where tempers flared between the players of both teams, in the end, the spirit of cricket ruled large.