Stokes ‘desperate to do well and perform’, says Woakes
“It was an even day overall, I think. When you do win the toss, and go out there and have a bowl, there’s always that added pressure to skittle them early. But credit to India, I thought they played pretty well,” said Woakes, who ended the day with 3/75.
“There was probably a period through the middle of the day when the sun was out when the ball didn’t do quite as much and they capitalised on that. Sometimes you have to sit in and be patient.”
The period Woakes refers to was when Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were in the middle, scripting India’s best partnership in the series. They added 159, the partnership ending when Stuart Broad felled Rahane for 81.
Kohli, India’s best batsman, continued for a while longer before nicking Adil Rashid to Ben Stokes at slip to fall three short of a century.
“If he could do that when he’s on nought, that’d be nice,” Woakes joked. “But Virat’s a world-class player, so to get him out at any point in the game is important, because obviously he can go on and score big ones. That’s a big wicket for us.”
It was Stokes’ absence from the second Test – at Lord’s, where England won by an innings and 159 runs – for non-cricketing reasons that helped Woakes return to the XI, and he marked the occasion with his first Test century, to go with four wickets, and the Player of the Match award.
When Stokes returned, Woakes stayed put, and Sam Curran had to go out.
“It is unfortunate for Sam to miss out. But when someone like Ben comes back – a world-class all-rounder who has performed for the team for such a long period of time – you can understand that decision. I’m sure Sam will play a part in the series, going forward,” said Woakes.
Stokes was brought into the attack before Woakes but ended the day wicketless, having conceded 54 runs from 15 overs. Woakes, however, backed him to come good as the Test wears on.
“Ben’s a big-game player and he’s worked extremely hard since he’s come back to the group as he always does,” said Woakes. “Catching (Kohli’s wicket) is part of that – he’s constantly out there training hard on that. First slip to the spinner is an important position and he made that catch look quite easy even though it came quick. It was a big wicket.
“There was no real difference in Ben. He was the same as he always is, desperate to do well and perform for England and he’s been great around the group. Today didn’t go as well as he would have liked it to have gone, he’d have liked a couple of wickets, but that’s the game.”
He has already played a big part in the Test, with those three early strikes, but Woakes isn’t going to encourage talk of match-winning runs with the bat, not each time.
“I don’t feel like I need to be Man of the Match every game to try to keep my place,” he said. “I just try to do my job. There’s always pressure to perform whenever you put the England shirt on – always people knocking on the door.”