Alastair Cook says regaining No.1 status in Tests not on his mind
England captain Alastair Cook says that regaining the No.1 ranking in Test cricket ahead of schedule would be an “irrelevance”. Alastair Cook who led his side to a dramatic victory in the 3rd Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston is aware of the fact that England can regain their No.1 position by the end of this summer.
The England side must win their last Test against Pakistan at the KIA Oval and hope India doesn’t win any of their last two Tests in the Caribbean. Cook though refused to get carried away at this prospect and asked his boys to improve in each and every department before the final game.
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"If we do become number one after the Oval that is fantastic, but I wouldn't say we're anywhere near our potential," Cook said after England's 141-run win in Birmingham. "If that happens it's a bit of an irrelevance for me because this side's still got so much further to go. If it happens that's probably because of other results."
Before the start of the series England were the clear favourites but suffered an early setback after losing the first match at Lord’s as Misbah-ul-Haq’s century and Yasir Shah’s dream spell propelled the Pakistanis to a historic 75 run win.
Since their unexpected loss, the England team has fought back really well in the next two Tests to take a 2-1 lead in the 4 match series. The return of James Anderson bolstered their chances and with the likes of Alastair Cook and Joe Root regaining their form, they will look to seal the deal in the final games.
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The hosts conceded a vital 103 run lead in the 3rd Test but fought back really hard to register an unexpected victory. In their 2nd innings, Pakistan collapsed from 124/3 to 125/7 and were eventually bowled out for 201 inside 70 overs. It was a great come from behind victory for England and it would surely bolster their confidence in lead-up to the final Test.
"It's up there with my best-ever wins," Cook said. "Yes, we were up against it but we were never that far out of it. It was just pleasing because I don't think that many people thought we would win.
"This is the first one in a while we've been behind and fought back. It was great character from the guys to come back like we did." Cook concluded