Blink and you'll miss India's heartwarming gesture for Chris Woakes, who redefined courage to bat one-handed

Sportspersons are brave. They are made of something unreal. Nothing, and we mean nothing, can stop them. Look at Rishabh Pant, who walked out with a broken foot to score a gritty fifty and ensure India got a respectable total on the board. Look at Chris Woakes. With his shoulder dislocated, the 36-year-old was the last man in, with England fighting tooth and nail to edge India and win the series. With his left arm in a sling, tucked underneath the jumper, Woakes came out with practically one arm and ran with all his might to ensure Gus Atkinson, the better equipped of the two, at that moment, took most of the strike. With every run, the grimace on Woakes' face only increased. If it came down to him having a bat, irrespective of the pain he was in, Woakes would have taken strike left-handed, one-armed. Sportspersons are brave. They are made of something unreal. Chris Woakes, with his arm in a sling, tucked under the jumper, walks out to bat(Reuters)

Which is why it was no surprise to see players of the Indian team saluting Woakes' bravado. Cricket has seen several such heroic efforts – Anil Kumble bowling with a broken jaw to dismiss Brian Lara, Graeme Smith batting with a fractured arm – but Woakes's courage deserves its own place in cricket’s Hall of Fame. Moments after Mohammed Siraj clean bowled Atkinson to ensure a 2-2 finish to the first-ever Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, KL Rahul, head coach Gautam Gambhir and several members of the Indian cricket team ditched the customary handshake to go and hug Chris Woakes for his incredible grit. The clip appeared very briefly, and there's a strong chance you might have missed it.

Which is why here it is:

"Good on Woakesy. He's in an immense amount of pain after that unfortunate injury, but it was never in doubt for him that, if needed, he was going to walk down the stairs and try to get us across the line,” England head coach Brendon McCullum told BBC.

Ben Stokes lauds Chris Woakes' courage

A five-Test series is bound to take its toll on the body, more so this time around since all matches have gone down to the final day. Like India – they lost Rishabh Pant, Nitish Reddy to injuries and rested Jasprit Bumrah due to workload management – England too had their fair share of injuries and bad luck. Shoaib Bashir was ruled out after a broken thumb in the 3rd Test, and their captain Ben Stokes too couldn't escape the gruelling nature after hurting his arm in Manchester. Still, this mentality of battling through pain until the last breath has been embraced by every player, Woakes included.

"He was in a lot of discomfort. We've had Rishabh going out to bat with a broken foot, Bash [Shoaib Bashir] going out there bowling - and batting and fielding - with a broken finger. Then we go to Chris out there today, trying to get his team over the line with a quite recently dislocated shoulder… Everyone's left a lot out on the ground for their countries,” said the England captain.

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