England all-rounder Chris Woakes picked international cricket over the Indian Premier League and withdrew from IPL 2020. Woakes, who last played the league in 2018, has now revealed the reason for withdrawing from the league and has said that he probably didn’t need to pull out of IPL while adding that he is open to playing in the league in future.
“By no means do I feel like I’m finished in T20. I’d still love to play in the IPL. In hindsight, I probably didn’t need to pull out. I didn’t say it at the time but we’re expecting another baby in September and that added to the decision,” he said.
“My wife wasn’t well at home. The idea of being away from home for three months was going to be too much. Family had to come first. I want to play as much cricket as I can moving forward while looking after my body. My England career is No.1 but if opportunities come up, I’d still like to play in the,” the 31-year-old added.
Woakes had joined Delhi Capitals at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore. He went unsold last year. In 2018, Woakes emerged as one of the biggest picks and joined by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs 7.4 crore. He did scalp eight wickets in five matches but leaked runs at 10.36, which saw RCB release the all-rounder.
