Chose T20 WC and Ashes over IPL 2021: Chris Woakes reveals why decided to pull out of Delhi Capitals squad

Days
after
he
joined
a
few
of
his
compatriots
to
give
IPL
2021
a
miss,
Woakes
claimed
it
would
have
been
extremely
hard
to
play
in
three
back-to-back
tournaments
so
he
chose
the
T20
World
Cup
and
the
Ashes
series
over
the
IPL.

Woakes
joined
Jonny
Bairstow
(Sunrisers
Hyderabad)
and
Dawid
Malan
(Punjab
Kings)
to
pull
out
of
the
popular
cash-rich
league.

IPL
2021:
Delhi
Capitals
rope
in
Australia
seamer
Ben
Dwarshuis
as
Chris
Woakes’
replacement

“My
inclusion
in
the
World
Cup
squad,
I
didn’t
know
was
going
to
happen
–
especially
a
couple
of
months
ago.
The
IPL
has
been
rescheduled
and
thrown
on
to
the
end
of
our
summer,”
Woakes
was
quoted
as
saying
by
‘The
Guardian’.

“With
the
World
Cup
and
the
Ashes,
it
would
have
been
too
much
in
a
short
space
of
time.
I
would
have
loved
to
have
been
part
of
the
IPL
but
something
has
to
give,”
Woakes,
who
will
play
for
Warwickshire
this
week,
said.

Woakes
said
the
T20
World
Cup,
set
to
begin
in
the
UAE
and
Oman
after
the
conclusion
of
the
IPL,
and
the
Ashes
series
assume
significance
which
is
no
less
than
England’s
summer
of
2019.

“A
World
Cup
and
an
Ashes
tour,
it’s
almost
as
big
a
winter
as
our
summer
was
in
2019.
It’s
a
shame
with
what’s
going
on
Covid-wise
that
it’s
not
going
to
be
as
normal
as
everyone
would
like.
But,
from
a
cricket
perspective,
it’s
very
exciting.”

Woakes
has
shown
keen
interest
in
travelling
to
Australia
for
the
Ashes
when
a
lot
of
British
players
are
unsure
of
going
Down
Under
due
to
expected
stringent
restrictions.
It
is
expected
that
Australia
will
now
allow
players
with
their
families
on
the
tour.

(With
PTI
inputs)