Change is the only constant in the world. Cooky steps down as captain of England test team. As much as I am hurt by this, I am equally excited to see England rejuvenating itself under a new captain (most likely to be Joe Root).
Alastair Cook: I have liked him since I first saw him in Nagpur test in 2006 making debut against India. He got a ton on debut. I grew fonder and fonder of him. He was everything I lacked in me. Patience, resilience, belief in your abilities, never-give-up attitude. I was in standard VIII when he made his debut. He inspired me in ways none ever did. He has been an epitome of hard-work and determination to me. Surely, there are other batsmen who have better natural flair and look more aesthetic while batting. We have AB who can destroy within minutes, we have Kohli who can bat in any circumstances, we have Gayle who can hit sixes which land in car-parking area and so on.
But, none of them will know as much about overcoming failures, adversity and and none will possess the grit Captain Cook has. He is neither a born batsman nor a born leader. Instead, he worked his way to it. He worked his way to the summit.
In beginning, when he came into England's test team, everyone just saw him as a pretty young lad from Essex county who "isn't so bad". He soon got dropped from the team and came back strongly. Once he is in "zone", it seems impossible that he will ever get out. None of the bowlers can cause a glint of trouble to him. There has been times, when everyone believed that "You miss one run-out chance of Cook, you will be punished with 100 extra runs". Such was the reputation he made for himself.
He took over the captaincy from Andrew Strauss in 2012. His first assignment was one of the toughest one anyone ever finds. Leading against India in India. Cook set up an extraordinary standards by making 3 centuries in 4 games resulting in a rare series win against India in India. Here we go.
Among highs of his captaincy careers, there have been some notable victories. He led England in 59 test matches, an England record. 24 wins as captain reflect how good a captain he was. He took the leadership in troubled times. England came close to number 1 ranking on a number of occasions during his tenure. In my judgment, The best moment of captain cook's career was his first assignment itself: Series win against India in India. He made 3 mammoth centuries and led from the front. 562 in four matches tell you how much impact he made in the series result. They came back from one match behind and won the next two in Kolkata and Mumbai. Cook also won his both home Ashes assignments as captain. First in 2013 by 3-0, then repeating the feat in 2015 by 3-2. Other highs of captaincy include beating a strong South African side 2-1 in South Africa. It was unbelievably hard. But, he led his troops superbly well and he backed some of England's future superstars like Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Johnny Bairstow. It was pleasant to watch.
As they say, the curse of captaincy is its longevity. Along with the highs, the lows will also appear everywhere. It is unavoidable. In Cook's case, there were a few lows like getting drubbed 5-0 against Australia in Australia, losing a home series on penultimate ball of the series against Sri Lanka, losing against Bangladesh, getting thrashed by India in India 4-0.
In my opinion, Cook has got the timing of "stepping down" absolutely spot on. There are 10 months before the next Tough Ashes assignment in Australia. Stepping down means the new captain will get accustomed to the job and England have a huge chance to retain the urn in Australia. Cooky is one of the most important asset to the team as an opening batsman and he has got a lot of cricket left in him. He would certainly want to enjoy the last phase of his cricket career without being burdened by captaincy. He may still improve to replicate his Ashes heroics of 2011-12 in Australia where he scored more than 766 runs in five matches. Probably the best series of his career so far along with against India in India in 2012-13.
I have followed Cooky's career for almost over 10 years now. Out of his extraordinary 11,000 test runs, more than 8,000 runs have been scored when I was reading commentary ball-by-ball or watching the game on my television. I have a huge amount of respect for him. He has extraordinary grit, resilience, patience and humbleness. He is an amazing human being and he is one of the most honest captains I have ever seen.
Cook doesn't sledge. Cook can bat for hours and hours without breaking a sweat. Cook is one of the greatest cricketers ever. Cook always remains so calm and composed throughout. That is captain "Cook" for you.
When Cook bats, the world watches.
Thanks skip. For everything.
Alastair Cook: I have liked him since I first saw him in Nagpur test in 2006 making debut against India. He got a ton on debut. I grew fonder and fonder of him. He was everything I lacked in me. Patience, resilience, belief in your abilities, never-give-up attitude. I was in standard VIII when he made his debut. He inspired me in ways none ever did. He has been an epitome of hard-work and determination to me. Surely, there are other batsmen who have better natural flair and look more aesthetic while batting. We have AB who can destroy within minutes, we have Kohli who can bat in any circumstances, we have Gayle who can hit sixes which land in car-parking area and so on.
But, none of them will know as much about overcoming failures, adversity and and none will possess the grit Captain Cook has. He is neither a born batsman nor a born leader. Instead, he worked his way to it. He worked his way to the summit.
In beginning, when he came into England's test team, everyone just saw him as a pretty young lad from Essex county who "isn't so bad". He soon got dropped from the team and came back strongly. Once he is in "zone", it seems impossible that he will ever get out. None of the bowlers can cause a glint of trouble to him. There has been times, when everyone believed that "You miss one run-out chance of Cook, you will be punished with 100 extra runs". Such was the reputation he made for himself.
He took over the captaincy from Andrew Strauss in 2012. His first assignment was one of the toughest one anyone ever finds. Leading against India in India. Cook set up an extraordinary standards by making 3 centuries in 4 games resulting in a rare series win against India in India. Here we go.
Among highs of his captaincy careers, there have been some notable victories. He led England in 59 test matches, an England record. 24 wins as captain reflect how good a captain he was. He took the leadership in troubled times. England came close to number 1 ranking on a number of occasions during his tenure. In my judgment, The best moment of captain cook's career was his first assignment itself: Series win against India in India. He made 3 mammoth centuries and led from the front. 562 in four matches tell you how much impact he made in the series result. They came back from one match behind and won the next two in Kolkata and Mumbai. Cook also won his both home Ashes assignments as captain. First in 2013 by 3-0, then repeating the feat in 2015 by 3-2. Other highs of captaincy include beating a strong South African side 2-1 in South Africa. It was unbelievably hard. But, he led his troops superbly well and he backed some of England's future superstars like Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Johnny Bairstow. It was pleasant to watch.
As they say, the curse of captaincy is its longevity. Along with the highs, the lows will also appear everywhere. It is unavoidable. In Cook's case, there were a few lows like getting drubbed 5-0 against Australia in Australia, losing a home series on penultimate ball of the series against Sri Lanka, losing against Bangladesh, getting thrashed by India in India 4-0.
In my opinion, Cook has got the timing of "stepping down" absolutely spot on. There are 10 months before the next Tough Ashes assignment in Australia. Stepping down means the new captain will get accustomed to the job and England have a huge chance to retain the urn in Australia. Cooky is one of the most important asset to the team as an opening batsman and he has got a lot of cricket left in him. He would certainly want to enjoy the last phase of his cricket career without being burdened by captaincy. He may still improve to replicate his Ashes heroics of 2011-12 in Australia where he scored more than 766 runs in five matches. Probably the best series of his career so far along with against India in India in 2012-13.
I have followed Cooky's career for almost over 10 years now. Out of his extraordinary 11,000 test runs, more than 8,000 runs have been scored when I was reading commentary ball-by-ball or watching the game on my television. I have a huge amount of respect for him. He has extraordinary grit, resilience, patience and humbleness. He is an amazing human being and he is one of the most honest captains I have ever seen.
Cook doesn't sledge. Cook can bat for hours and hours without breaking a sweat. Cook is one of the greatest cricketers ever. Cook always remains so calm and composed throughout. That is captain "Cook" for you.
When Cook bats, the world watches.
Thanks skip. For everything.
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