My emotional development from a little kid living in the suburbs of India to an adult runs very parallel to generation Alastair Cook. He is leaving International Cricket after Oval test at the end of summer, but he won't ever be gone from my mind.
I liked Alastair Cook from the first glance I had at him when he was picked at the Nagpur test in India in 2006 as a 21-year-old teenager. He shocked the world by getting a 60 and 104* against two of the best spinners of that time. Making a hundred against India in India is something so many have dreamt and died without fulfilling. Cooky did it in the first attempt after flying 10000 miles from the Caribbean coming as a last-minute replacement! I knew that he was such a special talent. The chef, my hero, and role-model-to-be.
Before I saw Alastair Cook, I hated everyone I met. I hated the rules and regulations. I wanted to be this cool guy from the Hollywood movies. I wanted to be wearing V-neck t-shirts and going to the mall, looking cool on social media and all those things cool guys do. I must admit I have never been a patient guy. Since childhood, I have always wanted to do things fast. Everything. I hate to waste time. I want things quickly. Watching and following Cook in England's shirt changed me for the better. He taught me the value of placidness, humbleness, patience, and calmness. I was never the same after I saw Cook. It was the cricketing equivalence of Buddhism. I liked him and I will always like him from everything I have. He has had a huge role to play to wherever I am today.
So many things I do in life, I can find a bit of Alastair Cook in it. He is there with me. All the time. He has such an indelible impression on me. I was always a rebellion. He was the string which compelled me to be a gentleman. He is one of the big reasons, I have always tried to polite to everybody I met since high school until now. I believed in his methods. It was him who taught me that being a gentleman is not a choice, it is a responsibility. Every time I look at him, it gives me a sense of sanity in the world. He symbolizes something far greater than the numbers in cricket. He is a living symbol that traditional methods still work. He is an epitome of hard work, perseverance, focus, commitment, and sheer will. He scored so many runs with his limited scoring options. The thing with him was: If something wasn't working out for him, he will put it to bed and try to score runs with his strengths. He gave everything he had to be the best player he could be to the best of his abilities. His grit and determination are a story worth telling to the future generations of young cricketers.
As a batsman, Alastair Cook was something who I instantly fell for. Though I have always liked aggression in sports, watching Cooky bat was a different joy altogether. It was a perfect let-out from the ennui of life. It was pure art. Easy to the eyes. A complete package of concentration, knowing where your off-stump is and using your limited scoring areas to score unlimited runs. You can keep bowling him all day and he will keep batting for hours after hours. If you think you can frustrate him into throwing his wicket away, you are dreaming. His appetite for runs was as immense as I have ever seen. He retires as England's highest run-getter by some distance. As an England opener, you play half your games with Duke balls which are the toughest to bat with. There are no night-watchmen for openers and add England's struggling mostly in cricket, he often had to bat at most uncomfortable timings possible in tests. As a person, he is easily the nicest bloke you will ever find in cricket. If you ever introduce him to someone, they will give you a high-five.
I still get nightmares remembering the Ryan Harris delivery which got Cooky a golden duck in his 100th test at WACA in 2013-14. It is one of the lowest moments of my cricketing life and it will always be. It was December 16, 2013. I use the video of that dismissal to remind myself of the unfairness and cruelty of life.
Cook announced his retirement just 2 days after my 25th birthday. September is my favorite month by some distance. September 2018 won't be, because of him leaving. Cooky leaving the scene also reminds me of how quickly time flies. It seems only yesterday when I saw a handsome kid from Essex County making runs all over the world and now today he is leaving. My own life is so much part of him playing test cricket. It was as if I felt his success and failures vicariously. He always felt so close to heart.
I just turned 25. I started watching Alastair Cook when I was 13. I loved watching test cricket since the beginnings. Watching Cooky bat in a test match was a dream come true. I remember watching his MCG special 244* in my graduate lab the whole day when I was supposed to be reading a research paper. Such was his spell over me. I couldn't focus on anything when Cooky was there on the pitch. It was his aura.
I was thinking how will I ever explain the greatness of Cooky to someone who didn't witness his mastery. How will I ever explain living an entire lifetime in those 12 years of Cooky's career? How will I explain this to my kids in the future?
I am going to tell them his debut century at Nagpur to his record-breaking Ashes 2010-11 series. From his Edgbaston grand-grand daddy to his 3 hundred to beat India in India. I will definitely tell them his 14-hour marathon 263 in UAE to mastering the pink ball under flood-lights to make 243. Whenever the kids are bored, I will play them a few videos on the internet of him driving, cutting and pulling on his way to greatness.
My cricketing life has seen so many generations. Cook remains the most influential player among all those. I want to be Alastair Cook.
I liked Alastair Cook from the first glance I had at him when he was picked at the Nagpur test in India in 2006 as a 21-year-old teenager. He shocked the world by getting a 60 and 104* against two of the best spinners of that time. Making a hundred against India in India is something so many have dreamt and died without fulfilling. Cooky did it in the first attempt after flying 10000 miles from the Caribbean coming as a last-minute replacement! I knew that he was such a special talent. The chef, my hero, and role-model-to-be.
Before I saw Alastair Cook, I hated everyone I met. I hated the rules and regulations. I wanted to be this cool guy from the Hollywood movies. I wanted to be wearing V-neck t-shirts and going to the mall, looking cool on social media and all those things cool guys do. I must admit I have never been a patient guy. Since childhood, I have always wanted to do things fast. Everything. I hate to waste time. I want things quickly. Watching and following Cook in England's shirt changed me for the better. He taught me the value of placidness, humbleness, patience, and calmness. I was never the same after I saw Cook. It was the cricketing equivalence of Buddhism. I liked him and I will always like him from everything I have. He has had a huge role to play to wherever I am today.
So many things I do in life, I can find a bit of Alastair Cook in it. He is there with me. All the time. He has such an indelible impression on me. I was always a rebellion. He was the string which compelled me to be a gentleman. He is one of the big reasons, I have always tried to polite to everybody I met since high school until now. I believed in his methods. It was him who taught me that being a gentleman is not a choice, it is a responsibility. Every time I look at him, it gives me a sense of sanity in the world. He symbolizes something far greater than the numbers in cricket. He is a living symbol that traditional methods still work. He is an epitome of hard work, perseverance, focus, commitment, and sheer will. He scored so many runs with his limited scoring options. The thing with him was: If something wasn't working out for him, he will put it to bed and try to score runs with his strengths. He gave everything he had to be the best player he could be to the best of his abilities. His grit and determination are a story worth telling to the future generations of young cricketers.
As a batsman, Alastair Cook was something who I instantly fell for. Though I have always liked aggression in sports, watching Cooky bat was a different joy altogether. It was a perfect let-out from the ennui of life. It was pure art. Easy to the eyes. A complete package of concentration, knowing where your off-stump is and using your limited scoring areas to score unlimited runs. You can keep bowling him all day and he will keep batting for hours after hours. If you think you can frustrate him into throwing his wicket away, you are dreaming. His appetite for runs was as immense as I have ever seen. He retires as England's highest run-getter by some distance. As an England opener, you play half your games with Duke balls which are the toughest to bat with. There are no night-watchmen for openers and add England's struggling mostly in cricket, he often had to bat at most uncomfortable timings possible in tests. As a person, he is easily the nicest bloke you will ever find in cricket. If you ever introduce him to someone, they will give you a high-five.
I still get nightmares remembering the Ryan Harris delivery which got Cooky a golden duck in his 100th test at WACA in 2013-14. It is one of the lowest moments of my cricketing life and it will always be. It was December 16, 2013. I use the video of that dismissal to remind myself of the unfairness and cruelty of life.
Cook announced his retirement just 2 days after my 25th birthday. September is my favorite month by some distance. September 2018 won't be, because of him leaving. Cooky leaving the scene also reminds me of how quickly time flies. It seems only yesterday when I saw a handsome kid from Essex County making runs all over the world and now today he is leaving. My own life is so much part of him playing test cricket. It was as if I felt his success and failures vicariously. He always felt so close to heart.
I just turned 25. I started watching Alastair Cook when I was 13. I loved watching test cricket since the beginnings. Watching Cooky bat in a test match was a dream come true. I remember watching his MCG special 244* in my graduate lab the whole day when I was supposed to be reading a research paper. Such was his spell over me. I couldn't focus on anything when Cooky was there on the pitch. It was his aura.
I was thinking how will I ever explain the greatness of Cooky to someone who didn't witness his mastery. How will I ever explain living an entire lifetime in those 12 years of Cooky's career? How will I explain this to my kids in the future?
I am going to tell them his debut century at Nagpur to his record-breaking Ashes 2010-11 series. From his Edgbaston grand-grand daddy to his 3 hundred to beat India in India. I will definitely tell them his 14-hour marathon 263 in UAE to mastering the pink ball under flood-lights to make 243. Whenever the kids are bored, I will play them a few videos on the internet of him driving, cutting and pulling on his way to greatness.
My cricketing life has seen so many generations. Cook remains the most influential player among all those. I want to be Alastair Cook.
