England will continue to do what they do, insists Woakes after Mintgate

England will continue to do what they do, insists Woakes after Mintgate

England will have a few selection dilemmas as they head into the third Test against India in Mohali. Stuart Broad, who injured his right foot in Vizag, and Zafar Ansari, who hurt his back in the previous game, stayed away from practice on Thursday (November 24). Broad's injury opens up a pace-bowling spot and Chris Woakes, who played the first game in Rajkot is back in contention.

Woakes missed the second game when James Anderson returned fully fit, and was left out as a part of England's rotation policy. He was also troubled by a slight niggle to his knee but reckons he is now fully fit.

"I'm fit and available for selection. First Test went well with way I bowled so to have that break I now feel fresh and ready to go. You always want to play and you don't want to miss any Test match particularly when you feel you're in decent form. I suppose it's one of those things that happens.

"With a long series it's one of those things you have to take into consideration as a captain and coach. But my knee feels fine and I'm ready to go. It's something I've had for a few years, I've been managing it for quite a while so I know I can get through a Test without any problems," he said.

With England pondering more changes to the eleven that lost in Vizag, the pitch and conditions form a crucial part in picking an eleven. The possibility of Gareth Batty replacing Ansari, if unfit, remains high. Woakes's guess after seeing the Mohali pitch was that England might resist playing an extra seamer at the expense of a spinner.

"I'm useless at reading pitches and it's a good job I'm not captain. But looking at the wicket I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to see that the ends are a bit more trimmed than the middle of the pitch so therefore we're expecting it to spin. Whether that's from day one I'm not too sure but at some point it's going to spin and we've gone with three and three in the last two Tests and the wicket doesn't seem to look too different to those.

"Just off the top of my head I'm guessing we'll go with the same. I know there has been talk of the fact that there's generally a bit more here for the fast bowlers and talk about going four and two but I honestly don't know if that's what we will do or not," said Woakes.

While England trail 0-1 in the series, Woakes felt that the major difference between the two sides has been the batting of India skipper Virat Kohli. "We lost by quite a big margin but we lost it in the first innings when we had a 200 run deficit and I think other than that we definitely went toe to toe with these guys. Kohli has scored a lot of their runs - I know Pujara has scored two hundreds as well - but Kohli has scored the majority of their runs, particularly in that second Test so we will have to try and stop him scoring.

"His first 30 balls will be crucial because once he gets in it's hard to get him out. But I feel like the teams are fairly evenly matched. I know they are in their own conditions and they are good in their own conditions but I don't think they're out of reach compared to where we are," he added.

A major talking point in cricket at the moment is the ball-tampering charges against South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis in Australia. Many cricketers have come out insisting that all teams do it, including Steven Smith, the Australia captain, and Woakes was no different. He admitted that England won't be doing anything different from what they have been doing, even in the aftermath of Mintgate.

"Everyone has said they try to shine the ball in a similar fashion. I think the fact Faf Du Plessis has been fined, the ICC are trying to make a stance on it but I suppose there is a grey area there isn't there? Hashim Amla said about him having chewing gum in his mouth pretty much all day. Is that deemed as wrong and as cheating? I'm not sure.

"I think it needs to be clarified to exactly what the problem is. If you're exactly placing a sweet on the ball that is obviously against the rules but everything else seems to be a little bit of a grey area. That's our stance on it and we won't be changing anything we do when we go out there this week. There's always cameras on you, there always has been, so there's nothing we need to change," he said.

"Occasionally the guys at drinks breaks guys will come and have sweets or mints just to freshen up, to keep the energy going but nothing from a sweet is allowed to go on a ball so therefore we don't do that. It's just a sugar boost really. I suppose when you're in the middle of a day there's only so much fluid you can take on board, only so many bananas you can eat so during a tough session when the opposition are 200 for 2 the odd lolly is quite nice," was how the England pacer put it.

"I suppose so," he answered when asked about the grey area. "Gatorade has sugar in it as well. We take those drinks on board and then lick our tongue and put that on the ball so that's a grey area as well. Is that classed as a sugary substance going on the ball? I don't know," he insisted.

When asked if the players will stop taking sweets and mints, Woakes said, "Yes I suppose so if that's the way the ICC want to go, maybe completely ban anything going on the pitch. Maybe that's the way to go. But as I said we do what we do and we haven't been told off for it as such or banned or fined so we'll continue to do exactly what we've done in the past."