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Chris Woakes is disappointed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma won’t play in the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket last month. (Image: AFP)
Senior England pacer Chris Woakes feels it would be a ‘shame’ that Indian superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma won’t play in the upcoming five-Test Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy, though he backed the visitors to come up with replacements of ‘a very high standard’ with proven talent.
India and England will kick off their respective 2025-27 World Test Championship cycles with this series. Both Kohli and Rohit retired from Tests within days of each other last month, prompting the selectors to call upon the likes of Sai Sudharsan — his first-ever selection to the Test side — and Karun Nair — asked to join after a gap of eight years — for the series.
“It’s always good to come up against strong opposition going into a Test series that you know is going to be hard-fought,” Woakes told ESPNcricinfo on the sidelines of the second India ‘A’-England Lions game in Northampton. “We’ve had some good battles against Virat and Rohit over the years. For the game itself, it’s a shame they won’t be there,” said Woakes. “But Indian cricket has so much depth, the players who will come in, I’m sure will be of a very high standard, who have proven themselves some way or the other,” he added.
Woakes got Kohli out thrice in eight Tests and Rohit once in two matches.
He has always been a threat against the Indians, especially when playing at home, and showed that again with his three wickets against India ‘A’ in Northampton. He got rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Karun Nair as the visitors scored 348 in the first innings, led by KL Rahul’s 116.
“KL played really well, good hundred, on a wicket which did a little bit all day. There were periods where it was a bit quiet, but it was doing something for most of the day. I enjoyed all three to be honest. I felt like I could have a couple more, but pleased with how the ball came out. Most important for me was to get through 17 overs. Ticked box for me,” Woakes added.
The first Test begins on June 20 at Headingley.
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
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