The International Cricket Council (ICC) has allowed a near about 40-days window to the Indian Premier League (IPL). There are no major International matches scheduled in these days especially that involves India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies. However, a few countries have been left out from the IPL and they are n action. Once such series that begins from 25th May is Pakistan on tour of England.
This year, there was record attendance by the English players in the IPL with as many as 12 players taking part in the competition. Along with Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, there were many smaller names also taking part such as Tom Curran and Mark Wood. With the Test series starting now, the chosen players will be making their way back to England.
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Rajasthan Royals are most-hit with as they have lost Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. Another franchise that has lost a major player is Royal Challengers Bangalore. They will be dealing with the departure of Chris Woakes. The all-rounder was a regular part of the RCB playing XI in the initial matches but lost favor with poor performances.
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Chris Woakes played five matches at the start of the season but failed to impress his bowling. He started off well and by picking 8 wickets and at one stage, he owned the purple cap. He lacked consistency through and was taken to the cleaners as they carted him for an economy of 10.37. He was eventually dropped from the team but he only had praises for the team when he left.
Woakes’ farewell message
Chris Woakes was emotional while leaving India and dedicated a special message for his RCB fellows. He also hoped that RCB goes all the way and lay their hands on the IPL trophy. “Thoroughly enjoyed my time at this years IPL with @royalchallengersbangalore ! I will be following closely from home and backing the boys to go all the way good luck lads! #playbold @iplt20 @yuzi_chahal23,” his post on Instagram read.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi1WawiBzBn/?taken-by=chriswoakes
This evoked responses from the RCB teammates of Chris Woakes. The wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was playful in his reply and called Woakes his “chintu brother” while commenting on his post which read, “Miss you my chintu brother see you soon @chriswoakes.” Moeen Ali also joined the conversation then as the fans also enjoyed the banter.
Royal Challengers have two pending league matches in the IPL. They will play versus Sunrisers Hyderabad (17th May) and Rajasthan Royals (19th May). They will need to win both the matches to have hopes of qualifying for playoffs.
The RCB also took to their official Twitter account to bid adieu to the English all-rounder as they tweeted: “Woakesy is departing the #RCB camp to join up with his England teammates ahead of a Test Series. We’d like to thank and congratulate him for exceptional efforts, particularly early on in VIVO IPL 2018 & wish him luck for his upcoming games ❤️ @chriswoakes #PlayBold”.
Woakesy is departing the #RCB camp to join up with his England teammates ahead of a Test Series. We'd like to thank and congratulate him for exceptional efforts, particularly early on in VIVO IPL 2018 & wish him luck for his upcoming games ❤️ @chriswoakes #PlayBold
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 16, 2018
