Chris Woakes has pulled out of his Indian Premier League contract with the Delhi Capitals in an attempt to stay fresh for the English season.
Woakes was to have been paid £160,000 in the lucrative Twenty20 tournament but has informed Delhi he wants to rest at the end of the two-Test series in Sri Lanka so that he is fit and ready to go for the first Test of the home summer against West Indies on June 4.
Otherwise he would have had to travel straight to India after the final Test in Colombo on April 1and plunge straight into the two-month long IPL campaign.
It is a sensible decision by Woakes, who played a key role in England’s 50-over World Cup triumph last summer before featuring in four of the five Ashes Tests. He has also toured New Zealand and South Africa already this winter and arrived here in Colombo earlier this week for a month long trip that ends one of England’s busiest post-seasons.
The 31-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder played a key role in England’s historic World Cup success last year and also went on to play four of the five Ashes Tests.
He has since toured New Zealand and South Africa over the winter and is currently preparing with the squad ahead of two Tests in Sri Lanka.
The prospect of heading straight from Sri Lanka to India for a competition that runs for almost two months – as the likes of Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Jos Buttler are expected to do – brought about second thoughts and he has instead prioritised keeping fresh for another busy programme at home.
