Despite having a dislocated shoulder, Chris Woakes, an all-rounder for England, was reportedly ready to bat on the last day of the fifth Test at The Oval. He sustained the injury on the first day of the game and didn’t participate again until the last innings.
On Day 5, Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna bowled with remarkable control using the old ball, dismissing three English batsmen in the morning session with England needing 35 runs and four wickets remaining. After a while, Chris Woakes emerged to bat with a sling supporting his damaged arm. Despite avoiding being hit by a ball, he helped England go closer to the mark by racing between the wickets with Gus Atkinson to keep the chase going. In the end, he was upset because England was only six runs away from winning the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
“The fact that we were unable to obtain the fairy tale still breaks my heart, truly. But even if there had been 100 runs left to win or anything, I never thought about not going out there. Some of the Indian players came over to pay their respect, and it was good to have the ovation. Any other player, however, would have followed suit.
Chris Woakes told The Guardian, “You couldn’t just call it off at nine wickets down.”
Chris Woakes found it difficult to run between the wickets with Atkinson, despite not having to face a single delivery. He later revealed how much anguish he had endured at those occasions and was clearly uncomfortable when trying singles.
The worst was the first one. I had only taken codeine, and the pain was unbearable. Here, instinct took control, and I attempted to run like you would naturally do even with my arm strapped down. I threw off my helmet, tore off the glove with my teeth, and checked to make sure everything was okay because I was really afraid my shoulder had burst out again,” Woakes recalled.
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