
Chris Woakes came out on the last day of the fifth oval test to pull a permanent ovation out of the packaged crowd. England a versatile slipped the shoulder while diving to save the 1st day and spend the next few days left arms in a sling and call on doubts about whether he would be able to bat at all.
But when England was in a dense tense persecution, Woakes made a brave call to enter. With his left arm tucked into his sweater and clearly immobilized, he took the guard only with his right hand. His determination was unmistakable and his presence on the fold became one of the most unforgettable moments of the series. The oval crowd, which recognized the clear gravel that came out in this state, raised his feet in the developing ovation.
“It’s all inside. If he has to bat on the left, he’ll do it. That’s the kind of character he’s,” Joe Root said after 4. Root also drew a parallel with Indian Rishabh Pant, who was injured in the series. “We saw a hinge doing something like that. That shows how much these games mean players.”
Such moments of courage under the fire improved into the structure of the test cricket. In the 2009 Sydney test, Graeme Smith came out on No. 11 with a broken hand, resisted painful pain and Australian tireless pace. In the last ditch he faced 17 tense vans to save the match and fell only 10 balls to withdraw a miracle.
The decade earlier in Faisalabad, during the 1986 test against Western India, Pakistan Saleem Malik showed a similar bravery. After being hit by the brutal Malcolm Marshall, Malik returned to the fold with his arm in the cast and alternated between the right and left -wing attitude to protect his injury. His Gutsy Stojan helped create a decisive partnership of Last-Iticte and saved a heavily fought draw.
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Published:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
4th August 2025