Alastair Cook: The great wall of England
Alastair Cook is all set to hang up his boots from the international arena. The fifth Test against India will feature this England great for the very last time. He has been associated with the game for 12 years now and has taken England cricket team to great heights
Cook made his Test debut against India in 2006 and since then there has been no looking back. He is England's leading Test run-scorer with 12254 runs at an impressive average of 44.84. Sheer Grit, determination and strong temperament made him a notch better than the others.
He was handed over with the responsibility of captaining the English team after his fellow opener Andrew Strauss retired in 2012. Cook captained England to its first Test series victory in India since 1984–85. During the tour, he became the first captain to score a century in each of his first five Tests in charge.
On 30 May 2015, Cook became the leading run-scorer in Test matches for England, surpassing Graham Gooch. After England's 2016 tour of Bangladesh and India, he stepped down as Test captain.
He doesn't possess a watertight technique like other greats of the game but his monk-like concentration and ability to play for long periods made him an ideal candidate to negotiate the new ball attack.
He is not only known for his batting feats but is also regarded as one of the finest captains who also established himself as a good fielder.
Unlike Test cricket Cook hasn't enjoyed much success at the one day level. In the 92 games he played, he scored a total of 3204 runs at an average of 36.41 which is just a partly figure for someone of his potential.