England draw up plans for Virat Kohli ahead of Mohali Test

Virat Kohli scored an incredible 248 runs across both innings of the second Test that paved the way for India's win in Vizag. According to Woakes, England have to find a way to stop the Indian captain from getting off to a good start because more often than not it ends up being a big score.

“Kohli scored lot of those runs, Pujara has also scored. Kohli has scored majority of runs, particularly in that second Test match. So, we are going to have plans to him to try and stop him scoring. Once he gets in, it’s hard to get him out,” Woakes said, reported PTI.

England succumbed to a humiliating 246-run defeat in the second Test in Vizag, but Woakes feels that all is not lost and England still have a great chance to recover in Mohali.

“I feel that the teams are fairly evenly matched. Although we have lost that last Test match, we felt that we have played some good cricket on this tour barring a session maybe.”

England will be without bowler Stuart Broad for the third Test, who has been ruled out of the Test due to a foot injury.

“Obviously, it will be a huge loss if Stuart doesn’t play. He is a world class bowler, he has been there for a long period of time. He has showed how good he is in one spell he bowled, I think it was one of the morning sessions, the last Test match,” Woakes said.

Woakes also backed Jos Butler, who has been called up to the squad, stating that he has the ability to adapt quickly and do a good job for the team.

"He is a brilliant one-day player. He has obviously showedthat, he has been in a good form on this tour from that Bangladesh series, he was probably our best player on that series in similar conditions. Everyone knows that Joss is a naturally attacking player,” Woakes said.

“We obviously do have to win here to make sure we can win the series..everyone is in good spirits (on team morale after the previous loss),” Woakes responded to a question about how important the Mohali Test was.