Chris Woakes praised the big-game temperament of Ben Stokes after his fellow all-rounder punctuated a low-key return to the England team by taking the catch that led to the decisive wicket of Virat Kohli on the first day of the third Test.
Stokes, back in an England shirt four days after he was acquitted of affray at Bristol crown court, did little of note with the ball as he sent down 15 wicketless overs on an opening day that ended with India on 307 for six.
However, typically of a player who gravitates towards the big moments of matches, he did have a key role in the dismissal of the India captain on 97 during the final session, Kohli missing out on a second century of the series after he edged the leg-spinner Adil Rashid to Stokes at slip.
Woakes, the man of the match at Lord’s after coming into the team for Stokes, who missed the second Test to attend his trial, said: “Ben’s a big-game player and he’s worked extremely hard since he’s come back to the group as he always does.
“Catching’s part of that – he’s constantly out there training hard on that. First slip to the spinner is an important position and he made that catch look quite easy even though it came quick. It was a big wicket.
“There was no real difference in Ben. He was the same as he always is, desperate to do well and perform for England and he’s been great around the group. Today didn’t go as well as he would have liked it to have gone, he’d have liked a couple of wickets, but that’s the game.”
Woakes took three wickets during a productive morning spell that gave England the upper hand.
Yet a bowling attack which was negated by a slow pitch and some obdurate batting appeared to miss the left-arm variation of Sam Curran, the 20-year-old all-rounder who was unlucky to be dropped to accommodate the return of Stokes.
“It is unfortunate for Sam to miss out,” Woakes said. “But when someone like Ben comes back – a world-class all-rounder who has performed for the team for such a long period of time – you can understand that decision. I’m sure Sam will play a part in the series, going forward.
“It was an even day overall, I think. When you do win the toss, and go out there and have a bowl, there’s always that added pressure to skittle them early. But credit to India, I thought they played pretty well. There was probably a period through the middle of the day when the sun was out when the ball didn’t do quite as much and they capitalised on that. Sometimes you have to sit in and be patient.”
But for his fine performance at Lord’s, where he took four wickets and posted a maiden Test century, it might have been Woakes who was left out for this match.
With so many all-rounders vying for positions in this England team – Moeen Ali was also left out in Nottingham as well as Curran – Woakes denied feeling any pressure on his place.
“I don’t feel like I need to be man of the match every game to try to keep my place,” he said. “I just try to do my job. There’s always pressure to perform whenever you put the England shirt on – always people knocking on the door.”
Rashid neither batted nor bowled during the Lord’s Test but after returning to the attack here he claimed the wicket of Kohli for the second time in this series.
“If he could do that when he’s on nought, that’d be nice,” Woakes said. “But Virat’s a world-class player, so to get him out at any point in the game is important, because obviously he can go on and score big ones. That’s a big wicket for us.”
There was a moment of concern for England shortly after tea when Stuart Broad, taking his mark at the Radcliffe Road End, was stung on the lip by a wasp. But Woakes said: “He was unfortunate to get a wasp in his mouth. It’s not the ideal situation but he’s fine.”
Rashid said: “The bowlers toiled really well and the batsmen did well too, so it was a good day’s cricket. The pitch wore well as it went on, but if it hits the seam, there’s something in there.”
Ajinkya Rahane scored 81 in building a fourth-wicket partnership of 159 with captain Kohli, with the pair batting all the way through from lunch to tea.
Rahane believes India are satisfied with their effort, revealing the tourists would have opted to bat had they won the toss. “We thought if we got a good start middle order could capitalise on that and that is what we were doing,” Rahane said. “Definitely we were looking to bat, we were positive throughout. It was slightly slow but after lunch I felt it was really good to bat on. We’ve got the right balance [in the line-up]. It’s about batting well tomorrow morning and taking it on.”
