Five best moments from Alastair Cook's captaincy
32-year old Alastair Cook resigned as the England Test captain following four and half years at the helm. Cook took over the England captaincy in the year 2012, and called the shots in 59 Test matches, winning 24 of them, and losing 22 while 13 ended in a draw.
It is certain that the southpaw relished leading from the front, as he amassed a total of 4,844 runs as the England captain. The road seemed a daunting one from the very start, though. His name was dragged through the mud during the ugly sacking of controversial cricketer Kevin Pietersen. He later received a lot of flak and was also called a spineless leader while on national duty when things weren’t going his way.
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But it wasn’t all dark and sombre, Cook had his fair share of joy throughout his captaincy stint. A redemption of sorts after winning the Ashes against Australia, and flagging their authority in what can be termed as the final frontier in India, among many.
Here are the five most memorable moments from Cook’s tenure as captain:
#1 England trump India away
It seemed like just another typical English tour of India, where the Trotts and the Montys would win a few battles while the Indians would savour another piece of silverware at their den. And the 1st Test at Ahmedabad boosted the above statement, as the English got beaten by nine wickets.
But a spectacular performance by Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar with the ball turned the tide in England’s favour and the visitors went on to level the series with a 10-wicket win in Mumbai.
Kolkata was no different, and once again it was the skipper who followed up on his 176 and 122 and led the charge with a 190, registering a century in his third consecutive Test match. The English bowlers got the better of the Indian batters in the second innings and at the end, a 41-run target was all Cook and his men had to chase to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Nagpur witnessed the only draw in the fixture, as the England side batted out 150-plus overs which resulted in the visitors clinching a convincing series win in India in as many as 28 years.
The opposition captain’s pitch plea hardly helped their matters and a team effort that featured Kevin Pietersen’s majestic 186, a few stubborn knocks from the middle order and a fine show with the ball, stood out for the three Lions.
Captain Cook was the chief architect, notching up 562 runs, that included three daddy hundreds. And in a rare instance, the spinners in the visitors’ pack outplayed the hosts.