NEW DELHI: India's wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant tickled his funny bone as he wished England all-rounder Chris Woakes a happy retirement with a humorous post on Tuesday. Pant, who has been away from cricket due to a fractured foot, sustained the injury while attempting a reverse sweep off Woakes during the 4th Test at Old Trafford.

"Happy Retirement Woakesy. You have been amazing on the field. Lots of discipline, a big smile and always good vibes. Now you can finally give that bowling arm a rest and my foot too. You definitely left a mark on me before retirement. Wishing you a fantastic journey ahead in whatever you choose," Pant wrote on social media.

In the fifth Test, Woakes, which eventually turned out to be his last Test appearance, injured his shoulder while saving a boundary and later came out to bat with his arm in a sling, attempting in vain to prevent the visitors from securing a series-levelling win.

Revealing their private exchange, Woakes had earlier told The Guardian: "I saw Rishabh Pant 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.' 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 on Monday announced his retirement from international cricket following his omission from the Ashes squad last week.

In his 15-year career as an England cricketer, Woakes, a pace-bowling all-rounder, played 62 Tests scoring 2034 runs and taking 192 wickets. The 36-year-old has also played 122 ODIs and 33 T20Is, making 1524 and 147 runs respectively. He has taken 204 wickets jointly in white ball formats.

"The moment has come, and I've decided that the time is right for me to retire from international cricket," Woakes said.

Woakes was part of England’s two ICC World Cup wins - the 2019 ODI World Cup at home and the T20 version at Australia in 2022.