Ravichandran Ashwin has heaped praise on Chris Woakes, who played a stellar role in the recently concluded 2023 Ashes where the latter was named Player of the Series.

Woakes took 19 wickets and scored 79 runs from three Test matches in the 2023 Ashes, helping England come from two Tests behind to level the series 2-2. After missing the first two games, where England trusted Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue, Woakes finally came back for the third Test, and had an immediate impact on the series. These were Woakes’ first outings in Test cricket since March 2022, when he played three games in the West Indies.

There has always been a stark divide between his numbers in England and outside England – enough for him to being okay with not playing another overseas Test if that meant prolonging his career. To go with that, Woakes is an all-format player at international level, and hops around from league to league in franchise cricket as well.

All this has prevented him from becoming an automatic choice in the England Test XI, a fact that has baffled Ashwin, whose Test career is in some ways similar to Woakes’: both are bowling all-rounders with significantly better numbers home than away, and not automatic choices in the Test XI on tours.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said: “I still can’t understand how he is not a regular in this England Test XI. If he was born in any other country, obviously injuries barring aside, he would have been one of the top three names in your XI.”

Ashwin touched upon Woakes’ qualities as a cricketer and how his completeness makes him feel jealous: “I will feel really jealous when I watch him play. He makes it look really easy. He is a natural athlete. If you look at the way he runs, you will feel as if someone trained him how to run a huddle.

“On the field, once he finishes his spell, he will not remain stiff at all. He has a very good throw. He is a very sweet timer of the ball when it comes to batting. Of course, he has a few discrepancies when it comes to his batting. His bowling action is so natural and his run-up itself is so good and makes you go, ‘Wow!'”

Ashwin then tried to make sense of Woakes’ not being a certainty: “I still cannot digest the fact that Chris Woakes is not a regular member of England’s playing XI. But the main reason for that is Chris Woakes is more of a 130-135 kph bowler.

“With his action, fitness, and running technique, he can still crank it up in excess of 140 kph. He still bowls the odd balls in excess of 140 kph. But since he is more of a 130-135 KPH bowler, and they already have [James] Anderson and [Stuart] Broad doing the same, so that makes it three one-dimensional bowlers without any variety.

“They also had Ben Stokes to do the all-rounder role, so they experimented with Sam Curran since he brought the left-armer angle into play. They also played Ollie Robinson who was tall and got bounce on many surfaces. Therefore, Chris Woakes constantly missed out because of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad.”

Ashwin is well placed to understand Woakes’ situation. Despite having a stellar Test record and consistently running through oppositions at home, he rarely gets chances overseas, especially in ‘SENA’ countries where India go with the four fast bowlers and Ravindra Jadeja as the sole spin-bowling all-rounder.

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