Alastair Cook, after the drubbing at the hands of India, took the bitter decision of stepping down as the captain of England after captaining the side for a record 59 times in the longest format, the most by any captain in his country’s cricketing history.
The 32-year-old enjoyed a highly successful time as a skipper. beginning his leadership journey in 2010, Cook, who is also England’s highest run-getter, led his side with great success including memorable Ashes wins and away victories India and South Africa. Engish cricket, obviously, cannot thank him enough his exceptional duties as the leader.
Cook’s captaincy career, which saw him saw him lead his team to 24 wins, 22 losses and 13 draws, was filled with highs and lows.
Here in this article, Sportzwiki tries to list out a few of the memorable moments as he bids adieu to the responsibility.
- Fabulous audition as skipper:
Ever since Cook entered the Test arena, he was seen with the potential of becoming England’s captain in the future. Despite struggling in patches against a couple of oppositions, especially Australia initially in his career, Cook was named as the first choice replacement when regular captain Andrew Strauss opted to skip the 2010 Bangladesh.
The then national selector, Geoff Miller, called this as an “audition for future engagements” As anticipated, the then 25-year-old passed the audition and showed he has the skills to attain the glory. Cook showed his delight of earning the added responsibility by leading the team to a 2-0 win in the series.
He himself flourished with 342 runs in the series at a stunning average of 114 with the help centuries in both the Tests. Strauss returned as captain and then led the team with three successful series including an Ashes win in 2010/2011. But, Strauss made a shocking retirement which led to Cook being handed over the full-time captaincy role.