The second phase of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League will get underway this Sunday with a blockbuster match between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings in Dubai. The Delhi Capitals are currently number one on the IPL 2021 points table. They are the favorites to win, but they will have to manage without the services of their star English all-rounder Chris Woakes in the second phase of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League.
Chris Woakes pulled out of the second phase of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League at the very last minute. The Delhi-based franchise soon roped in Australian pace bowler Ben Dwarshuis as his replacement. Soon after, Woakes spoke to The Guardian, where he revealed that he preferred to skip IPL because of T20 World Cup and Ashes.
With the World Cup and the Ashes, it would have been too much in a short space of time: Chris Woakes
Chris Woakes performed well for the Delhi Capitals in the first phase of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League. The team management preferred him over Anrich Nortje. When asked why did he opt out of the second phase of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League, Woakes replied:
“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. A World Cup and an Ashes tour, it’s almost as big a winter as our summer was in 2019.”
The English all-rounder was unsure of his inclusion in the T20 World Cup 2021 squad
Woakes continued and mentioned that he was unsure if the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) would name him in their 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup 2021. Thus, he waited before withdrawing from the second phase of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League.
“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 concluded.
