England's star allrounder Chris Woakes has revealed the reason behind his sudden and unannounced absence from professional cricket. The bowling allrounder took to 'X' to reveal that he lost his father at the beginning of May and hence decided to take a break from the sport.
"An update on my current absence from cricket:
"The last month has been the most challenging of my life when unfortunately my father passed away at the beginning of May.
"I've spent the last few weeks with the people most important to me, my family. We're all obviously grieving and trying to get through what is undoubtedly the hardest moments in our lives. It's times like this that perspective is at its greatest.
"I will be back playing cricket for Warwickshire, who my dad loved dearly, when the time is right for me and my family. I know playing cricket for Warwickshire and England made my dad incredibly proud. I look forward to doing that again in the future. Thanks for everyone's privacy at this time," wrote Woakes.
Notably, Woakes was one of the two overseas players (the other being Rilee Rossouw) bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the IPL 2024 mini-auction in Dubai. Punjab Kings splurged INR 4.20 crore to rope Woakes into their squad.
However, Woakes didn't play a single game for the franchise during his stay in India.
A consistent run for Chris Woakes in the red-ball format on the cards?
Woakes has been playing international cricket for England since 2011 but hasn't really nailed his spot in the Test side yet. However, with the veteran pacer James Anderson set to call time on his playing career after the Lord's Test against West Indies in July, Woakes may come into consideration for an extended run in the Test side.
The right-arm fast bowler has played 48 Tests and bagged 149 wickets at an average of 29.13.
