The England team faced a major setback after pacer Chris Woakes was ruled out of the fifth and final Test against India at The Oval in London. Woakes suffered a nasty shoulder injury and visibly looked too much in pain and discomfort in the ongoing ENG vs IND 5th Test.
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The England Cricket Board (ECB) has released an official statement while giving an update on Woakes’ injury and his availability for the remainder of the match. The announcement came ahead of Day 2’s play, where the board announced that he was ruled out of the series and further assessment would be made at the end of the Test match.
The drama unfolded with just 15 minutes left in the final session of the opening day as he dived to save a boundary. Following the dive, Woakes could be seen clutching his shoulder as the physios attended to him. In the end, he was forced off the field and had to use his sweater as a makeshift sling to support his left hand.
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The absence of Chris Woakes could prove costly for England as they aim to seal a series win, especially since he has played all five matches so far and has shared an incredible workload. Woakes, in fact, has bowled the most overs in the series across both teams, sending down a total of 181 overs.
Furthermore, he is extremely handy with the bat lower down the order as well, and England will face a blow across departments if the 36-year-old can’t continue further in this match. His absence would be a huge blow, considering captain Ben Stokes is already missing the fifth Test.
Woakes’s injury is now the latest addition to England’s injury list, which includes a grade-three muscle tear in the shoulder of skipper Ben Stokes that kept him out of the series finale, with Ollie Pope taking over the captaincy reins. Previously, spinner Shoaib Bashir was ruled out of the series after suffering a fracture to his left finger in the third Test at Lord’s.
England are now left with Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Jamie Overton, and part-time spinners Joe Root and Jacob Bethell as their bowling options.
Speaking about the match, India came into the contest with a clear goal to win as they currently trail the five-match series 1-2. However, the English pacers dominated proceedings with the green top on offer at The Oval, making inroads at regular intervals.
Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul perished cheaply for 2 and 14, respectively. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan next tried to make some amends and looked to be building a good partnership, but a suicidal runout from the Indian skipper ended the 45-run stand. While Gill departed on 21, Sai followed him back to the dugout not long after for 38.
It was then Karun Nair who took on the onus of rebuilding, but India kept losing wickets from the other end. Ravindra Jadeja (9) and Dhruv Jurel (19) also spent limited time at the crease before Washington Sundar walked in. The all-rounder complemented Nair well from the other end, who registered an international fifty after nine years and helped India finish Day 1 at 204/6.
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