Alastair Cook gets Guard of Honor from Indian team in his last Test match
The last match of the Test series between India and England is being played at Oval. This Test match is England's batsman Alastair Cook's last Test match. Prior to the start of this Test match, the Indian team gave 'God of Honor' before the fifth Test on Friday.
After England won the toss and elected to bat, Cook was welcomed on to the field with a Guard of Honor by Indian players and the umpires as well.
Cook announced his retirement from the cricket world after the last match of this five-match series against India. The special thing is that Cook started his Test against India in 2006 with a century in his debut Test played in Nagpur.
Cook has also gone on to play the most Test matches against India. Cook is currently playing his 30th Test match against India and he has broken the record of Australia's Ricky Ponting, who has played 29 Test matches against India. After Cook and Ponting, Clive Lloyd and Javed Miandad occupy the third sports, both of whom have played 28 matches against India. Fellow countryman James Anderson(27) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul(25) of the West Indies complete the top 5.
Enroute his 71 on the first day of play in the fifth Test, Cook completed his 1000 runs at Oval. Oval is the second such ground where Cook has completed 1000 runs, Lord's being the other ground where "The Chef" has breached the 1000-run mark. Cook is England's highest run-scorer in Test cricket. Having played 161 Test matches(including the ongoing Test match) in his Test career, in which he has scored 12254 runs at an average of 45. He has scored 32 centuries in Test cricket. His highest score of 294 runs in Test cricket came against India in 2011 at Nottingham.
The last match of the five-match series is being played on the Oval ground between India and England. England have already clinched the series with a 3-1 lead going into the final Test.