I obviously said sorry for the broken foot: Woakes reveals exchange with Pant

England all-rounder Chris Woakes has revealed that he said “sorry” to Rishabh Pant for the delivery that broke his toe during the recent Test series at the end of which he was left quite touched by his Indian rival’s generosity.

Woakes had struck Pant’s foot during the fourth Test in Manchester, ruling him out of the series-deciding fifth game. India battled past the setback to win the finale at the Oval by six runs to tie the series at 2-2.

Both Woakes and Pant became symbols of heroism for their respective teams by coming out to bat despite major injuries. While Pant padded up with his broken toe in Manchester, Woakes came out during the fifth Test despite a dislocated shoulder.

“I saw Rishabh (Pant) had put an image of me on Instagram with a salute emoji, so I replied thanking him: ‘Appreciate the love and hope the foot is OK,’ etc,” Woakes recalled in an interview to ‘The Guardian’.

“He then sent me a voice note saying: ‘I hope all is OK, good luck with the recovery and I hope we meet again out there some day’. I obviously said sorry for the broken foot.”

Woakes also recalled being appreciated by India captain Shubman Gill for coming out to bat in the fifth Test. Woakes did not get to face a ball but said running between the wickets was tough.

“(India captain) Shubman (Gill) said something like: ‘That was incredibly brave’,” he said.

“I told him: ‘You’ve had an unbelievable series, well played, and credit to your team’. Both sets of players had been through the mill in the series and deserve credit for the show we put on. Both teams wanted the win, of course, but it does kind of feel fair that it was drawn.”