It is reasonable to wonder where this England team and the entire Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum project might be without Chris Woakes. Two years ago, with England 2-0 down in a home Ashes, reputations and possibly jobs were on the line. Chris Woakes was recalled when England were staring into the abyss.
Alongside his good mate Mark Wood, Chris Woakes engineered victory at Headingley, the pair in the middle together when the winning runs were hit, then it was Chris Woakes who did most of the work in Stuart Broad’s send-off at The Oval. A 2-2 draw, Chris Woakes the Player of the Series despite only playing three Tests.
Chris Woakes struggle with injuries and his elusive test career
Chris Woakes is back in England’s Playing XI for the first Test against India, which begins on Friday at Headingley. The experienced fast bowler had been out since December 2024 because of an ankle injury he picked up during the series against New Zealand.
Chris Woakes missed the one-off Test against Zimbabwe earlier in May, but made a strong return in the warm-up match for England Lions against India A. In that game, Woakes picked up three wickets in the first innings and added two more in the second, showing good form and troubling India A’s top-order batters with his accurate bowling.
On Friday, Chris Woakes returns to Leeds for the beginning of England’s five-Test series against India. At 36, the oldest player in the squad, he has perhaps never been more important to an England team. Amid the lust for high pace and an attack to win in Australia, it will be Chris Woakes who bowls the first over for the home team, his accuracy and movement most likely to torment an Indian line-up lacking experience in English conditions.
In 2024, Chris Woakes played nine Tests, his second-most in a calendar year in a career that began in 2013. Sam Cook’s indifferent audition against Zimbabwe last month only served to enhance Chris Woakes’ importance.
Chris Woakes is returning from an ankle problem he first felt at the end of England’s tour of New Zealand in December. He says it might have been down to a switch in the boots he was wearing, which he has now changed back. To go straight into the England XI is a contrast to much of Chris Woakes’ career, when he was often competing for the one pace-bowling spot behind Anderson and Broad.
In the summer of 2022, the birth of Bazball, he did not play at all because of a knee injury. Before he underwent surgery, Chris Woakes wondered if his red-ball career was over.
Since Chris Woakes returned, England have won 10 of the 12 Tests he has played and he has taken 51 wickets at an average of 21.88. In the same period, only India’s Jasprit Bumrah, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada have taken as many wickets at a better average.
Overall, with 1,970 runs and 181 wickets, Chris Woakes is closing in on becoming only the sixth Englishman to do the 2,000-200 double in Tests and will probably do so as the second-fastest in terms of matches, after Ian Botham. He is part of an exclusive club of England players to have won the Ashes and both 20- and 50-over World Cups, including Stokes, Wood, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler.
Chris Woakes is very effective in English conditions. He knows how to get wickets regularly and bowled. He looks in good form again. India’s squad is quite young, and many players don’t have much experience facing pace and swing in English conditions. Chris Woakes could turn out to be a major threat for them. He has played at all the major venues in the UK and knows how to adapt quickly.
Under the Stokes-McCullum leadership, Chris Woakes has played 12 matches, out of which England have won 10. They lost only one match against Sri Lanka in September 2024 and drew one against Australia in the third Ashes Test of 2023.
In England, Chris Woakes has taken 137 wickets in 66 innings at an average of 21.59. His record includes five five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul. Looking at his recent performance against India A, he will be hoping to add more to that in the five-match Test series. Veteran Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane who has faced him before considers Woakes as a main threat to a new-look Indian batting line up.
Chris Woakes is an experienced campaigner- Ajinkya Rahane
Veteran Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane has identified Chris Woakes as the biggest bowling threat for the visitors ahead of their opening match in the five-Test series against England. The much-anticipated clash is set to get underway on Friday, June 20, at Headingley, Leeds.
The hosts have already announced their playing XI, with Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, and Josh Tongue as their three frontline pacers. Speaking a day before the series opener, Rahane, in a video shared on his YouTube channel (@ajinkyarahane88) on Thursday, June 19, named Woakes as the main challenge for India’s batting line-up. The 37-year-old said:
“I think Chris Woakes, because he’s an experienced campaigner and has done really well overall. In English conditions, he knows the wicket and how to bowl with the Duke ball, and I feel Chris Woakes will be really tough for the Indian batters.”
The 36-year-old English pacer Chris Woakes has played 57 Tests, claiming 181 wickets at an average of 28.24 and a strike rate of 55.9, including five five-wicket hauls. Against India, he has featured in nine matches, picking up 23 wickets at an average of 33.30 and a strike rate of 66.0.
In the same video, Ajinkya Rahane also named Yashasvi Jaiswal as one of the players he is excited to watch in the England series. The Mumbai batter mentioned that Jaiswal has the game to succeed and said:
“Personally, I’m really looking forward to seeing Yashasvi Jaiswal do well because opening the batting in England is really important. He has the game for it — he can control one end and also go on the attack when needed. So I’m really looking forward to seeing Jaiswal perform in England.”
Additionally, Ajinkya Rahane also backed pacers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah to spearhead the bowling attack and play a key role in helping India win the series. He said:
“I also want to see Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah do well because, as senior campaigners, they have the responsibility to lead the attack and pick up wickets for the team. We all know Bumrah is an excellent bowler and a proven wicket-taker, but I’d like to see him take that extra responsibility and help the team get through challenging situations, because winning a Test series in England is always very special.”
Interestingly, India last won a Test series in England back in 2007, securing a 1–0 win in the three-match series under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy. The five-match Test series against England will start from June 20 to July 4 and will be played in five venues for nearly two months.The first Test will be played in Leeds, then in Birmingham before moving to London’s iconic Lord’s, and the last two Tests will be played in Manchester and The Oval.
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