IPL 2018: Can never write off Ben Stokes, feels English speedster

The Royal Challengers Bangalore are in dire straits this season. They have failed to get their act going and hence, are in the unwanted position in the points table. On the eve of their next clash against the Delhi Daredevils, one of their key players, Chris Woakes, spoke at length about how the season has fared up thus far for the RCB team.

As per the quotes in the Hindustan Times, Woakes admitted that the Royal Challengers Bangalore have faltered big time this season. However, in the defense of the team, he noted that the tournament is so dynamic that even the best can fall short on certain days.  He hopes that the team will finish things on a higher note this season.

“We’d liked to have done better, but in certain games we haven’t been quite 100 percent. In a world class competition like IPL, you need to be 100 percent every time, 80 or 90 percent is not going to be quite good enough. Unfortunately that is the position we find ourselves in,” Chris Woakes remarked.

On Virat Kohli’s Surrey stint

Woakes’ RCB skipper, Virat Kohli, is all set for his debut County stint. Kohli will be playing for the Surrey side in the tournament. Commenting on the development, Chris Woakes remarked that he is not spying on Kohli’s game. Also, he added that it will be great for County cricket to have a player of Kohli’s calibre this season.

“I am not here to spy on Virat’s weaknesses. But sharing the dressing room with him has been a great experience. We expect some good challenges against him back in England. It is great he is going to play for Surrey, it will not only make the competition stronger, playing against world class players is only good for the County game,” Woakes noted.

On Stokes’ poor form

One of the biggest names from English cricket who was expected to call the shots this season was Ben Stokes. But Stokes has largely failed to impress this season. But Chris Woakes has warned the other teams that they can never write off a player like Ben Stokes.

“Ben Stokes is a world class player … I will never write him off; he still has four games left, and more if they qualify. He is a quality player. If you slip off the game against him, he will punish you,” Woakes remarked.

On Pant’s form

Speaking on the current holder of the Orange Cap, Rishabh Pant, Woakes admitted that the Pant’s knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad was a phenomenal one. He noted that the key to contain a batsman like Pant is to take the attack to him early on in the innings.

“Fantastic innings, I only saw some of the highlights. It is not nice to bowl at a guy when he is in that sort of form. (But) to play that sort of innings back to back is very difficult, we have to go away and do our plans on a good player that he is. Once he gets in, it’s very difficult to get him out. T20 is a format where it takes one performance to win a game,” Chris Woakes conceded.

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