England all-rounder Chris Woakes has admitted that it wasn't easy to decide not to play in the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. He played for the franchise Delhi Capitals.
Delhi Capitals then signed Australian Ben Dwarshius as Woakes' replacement. DC had said that Woakes is missing the IPL due to 'personal reasons'. Woakes has not been involved in the shortest format of the game since 2015 for England but he made a return in the Sri Lanka series. He is expected to be selected in England's Ashes side as well and thus wants to spend the five weeks with family.
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In a recent statement about his unavailability, Woakes said that he was not aware that he would be selected for the Ashes.
"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 was quoted by The Guardian.
"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,' he added.
Woakes was also excited about the winter season that we are heading towards.
"A World Cup and an Ashes tour, it's almost as big a winter as our summer was in 2019. It's a shame with what's going on Covid-wise that it's not going to be as normal as everyone would like. But, from a cricket perspective, it's very exciting," Woakes concluded.