Yashasvi Jaiswal sledged Mitchell Starc in Perth Test© AFP

Opting to go in without a proven performer like R Ashwin and batting first in an opening Test of a high-pressure series in Australia are reflections of an Indian team that is brave and supremely confident in its ability to win from any situation, feels England’s all-time great Alastair Cook. Cook, a former captain and the first England batter to make 10,000 runs in Test cricket, praised India for their remarkable comeback after getting bowled out for just 150 in the first Test at Perth.

“I thought India was so brave. I thought that first, you know, they win the toss and bat on that wicket, you look there, even though there’s only 150 they got, the thought process to say, ‘we’re going to take Australia on there. We know it’s going to be hard, but we think it’s going to be hard for both sides only, and then it’ll be a one-innings game’,” Cook said on TNT Sports.

He added, “I think most captains would have bowled first, certainly would have done and probably got the end of a bad result, like normally in Australia. But India took it on brilliantly. It was just an all-round fantastic performance.

“You think… bowled out for 150, you think we’re struggling here, but to bounce back when you’ve got Boomer (Jasprit Bumrah) up with the new ball on those kinds of wickets, he’s always going to be outstanding and backed up by team.” Captaining the team in the absence of Rohit Sharma, pace spearhead Bumrah came up with a magnificent performance to grab eight wickets, including a first-innings five-for, to lead India to a memorable win.

Speaking about India’s move to exclude the senior off-spinner Ashwin from the playing XI, Cook said, “… Just think of how brave they were? They didn’t bother playing Ashwin who has got 500 Test wickets. They’ve kind of played a couple of like, not makes you spinners, but you know, I thought Ashwin would have been outstanding, but you know, great thinking by them.

“And isn’t it nice to see Australia get thrashed?” Cook lauded the “classy” Yashasvi Jaiswal for the manner in which he dominated the formidable Australian pace attack and said he wouldn’t have told the menacing Mitchell Starc he is bowling too slow even if he was.

After failing to open his account in the first innings of the series opener, Jaiswal adapted to the conditions beautifully and played a brilliant 161-run knock in the second essay, his maiden century on Australian soil.

During the second day of the match, Jaiswal told Starc, “It’s coming too slow”, with his confidence attracting the attention of many in the cricket world, including the former England captain, who had been a prolific scorer in Tests for a prolonged period.

“We’ve seen his celebration enough here, but it’s more enjoyable against Australia than England, certainly,” Cook said, referring to Jaiswal’s phenomenal run in the Test series against England, when he amassed over 700 runs.

He added, “And sledging Mitchell Starc, saying at a certain stage, I think he wasn’t on 100, he wasn’t on anything on a major score, but he’s telling him you’re bowling slow…

“And I’ve faced Mitchell Starc and he certainly doesn’t bowl slow. And if he was bowling slow, I’d keep my mouth shut and not wind him up, but have the confidence to do that as a 22-year-old….” “I think he scored the most runs as any Indian player up to after 15 Test matches at the top of the order, which I’ll keep saying it, no one else believes me, it’s the hardest place to bat. What a classy player he is.” India thrashed Australia by 295 runs in the five-match series opener and Cook said he was pleasantly surprised by the result.

“I was surprised. I was surprised that India have gone there and hammered Australia in what normally is a very hard place to go and play cricket, Perth. I know it’s not the WACA. I know it’s the new stadium, but still, historically, Australia don’t lose many games there,” Cook said. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul after Day 2 of the India vs Australia 1st Test.© AFP

Former Test skipper Sir Alastair Cook said England needs to make a final decision on what role Jos Buttler will play in the white-ball sides in future. Buttler was out of action after the T20 World Cup semi-final loss to India due to a calf injury. Buttler will take up captaincy duties ahead of the five-match T20I series against the West Indies, with Phil Salt to don the keeping gloves and Essex wicketkeeper-batter Michael Pepper added to the touring squad after being in England’s 2-1 series defeat in the Caribbean.

“We know in the T20 series in the West Indies he’s not keeping – whether that’s injury-related, he’s obviously coming back from his calf injury, or it’s a tactical thing. I think they’re going to see how this goes and then they’ll make the final decision.”

“But they need to make it, because what he does, whether he bats at the top of the order or bats in the middle order, is a big influence on how you set the side up, and whether he’s keeping or not.”

“The best thing for me is, a) he’s coming back from his injury and, b) he’s signed a two-year central contract, which means England’s greatest white-ball player is keen to go again, he’s not just going to go off to the franchise world, he wants to play for England and he wants to lead England again,” said Cook to TNT Sports.

He also talked about the young England players he expects to make a breakthrough in the T20I leg of the Caribbean tour. “I’m looking at the batting line-up, Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox, Liam Livingstone – Livingstone’s slightly older – but all those guys, they are the modern player.”

“They are brought up on T20 cricket, they are brought up on the white ball, they can play all the shots. So all the talent’s there, it’s just now about getting the experience in them, and (it’s) the ones who then end up slightly better than the other ones. The ones who take that step, who feel as if international cricket suits them slightly better than other ones.”

“We’ve all seen that in the past, the players who after a year in the game, someone will jump up, get a score, feel confident, get more scores, and then suddenly he feels happier in international cricket, and that releases his talent. We’re kind of waiting for that player.”

“All of them are on that level, all produce good performances, maybe not quite as consistent, which is understandable because they’re young players, but we’re kind of waiting for the jump-up to the next bracket. I can’t predict it, they’re all so even, it will be interesting to see which ones does it.”

Cook signed off by expressing happiness over Jofra Archer playing all three ODIs against the West Indies in a year where he’s been carefully managed after a big layoff due to injuries. “What’s great for me with Jofra is the fact he’s played these three one-day games in a row, in a fairly short space of time, which means physically he must be in a pretty good spot. In the summer he was coming back, playing one, having a rest, playing another, having a rest.”

“Here he’s managed to play all three. He definitely adds strength to the English bowling side, he can bowl in all three aspects of the game, up front, powerplays, and at the death as well. There are not many of the bowlers who you can say are a dead cert to be in the first-choice line-up. I think he’s the leading seamer if fit, and he seems to have managed to get a run of games, which is great.”

File image of Brendon McCullum.© AFP

Former England captain Alastair Cook is hopeful about Joe Root going all the way to becoming the leading run-scorer in the history of Test cricket by dethroning the legendary Sachin Tendulkar from the summit. Cook’s former compatriot Root eclipsed him to become England’s leading scorer in Test cricket during the ongoing series against Pakistan in Multan. After watching his friend go past him to become England’s most decorated batter, the 39-year-old struggled to sum up his feelings in words and ended up ringing Root to congratulate him for his massive feat.

“I watched the moment, then I rang him after the end of the play,” Cook said during a round-table interview hosted by the ICC.

“I couldn’t think of the right words to write in a text message. So I thought I’d just ring him, see what he was up to, and make sure he had a beer in his hand, which I think he did,” he added.

The 33-year-old’s current run tally now stands at a whopping 12,716, just 3,206 runs shy of going past India’s ‘God of Cricket’ to become the most decorated batter in Test history.

With each passing Test, the world of cricket has started to fathom the responsibility of watching a record tumble that was once considered to be untouchable.

Before he sets his sights on toppling Sachin’s record, Root still has six players to overtake in the process before changing the course of history.

Cook remains hopeful about Root overtaking the Master Blaster’s record in the amount of time that has left in his career.

“I think Joe Root could set a mark, certainly on an English side, that’ll be very hard to beat. But you just never know. I hope he can get very close, if not be the first person who scores 16,000 Test runs. It’d be a great achievement,” Cook added.

Root will continue his hunt to get closer to that elusive feat during the third Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, beginning on Thursday.

Former England opener and recent International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Famer Alastair Cook expressed his admiration for the Three Lions’ highly-attacking and positive ‘Bazball’ brand of cricket under Test captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, saying that he has not seen a team pushing as many boundaries as the current England side. Cook travelled to the UAE for the announcement of his induction into the ICC Hall of Fame, where he and his family also watched the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final between New Zealand and South Africa, which the former won.

Speaking to ICC in an interview, Cook said that the game has certainly made a big jump in regards to what is possible in Tests.

“I think the jump happened in one day cricket first, probably. The fundamental change, certainly from the English point of view, is when Eoin Morgan took the side forward in 2015. And obviously, the Ben Stokes era has changed the mentality of what was possible,” said Cook.

A recent example of England’s new approach came in that first Test against Pakistan, when they scored 823/7 in their first innings, with Harry Brook’s 317 making him the second-fastest triple centurion in history, bringing up his milestone off just 310 balls.

For Cook, it is the fact that England has so many players who play in an aggressive fashion that separates them as unusual. But he did urge fans to remember that these individual feats are not all new, and that there have been plenty of fast-scoring players in the history of the game, including the holder of the fastest triple-century, Virender Sehwag. who reached the milestone in just 278 balls against South Africa back in 2008 at Chennai. He feels that now, more and more teams are playing more aggressively in red-ball cricket.

“We should not forget there were some past players who were also belligerent run-scorers as well,” Cook said.

“I think Harry Brook joined (Virender) Sehwag with his 300, and Sehwag’s didn’t come off too many balls either (278). I just think I have never seen a team push the boundaries quite as much as this England team have done.”

“There have obviously been great sides in the past who would score quickly, but not quite as quickly as this side seemed able and willing to do.”

“I am all for embracing it, and that is why I am saying comparing generations and comparing different times of cricket is very hard to do. But I do think we are seeing more players willing to put the bowlers under more pressure in red-ball cricket. I think ultimately, it is about runs scored and the end product,” he concluded.

Cook is joined in the ICC Hall of Fame by fellow new inductees Neetu David and AB de Villiers.

With the series level at 1-1, the final Test of the England-Pakistan series will start at Rawalpindi from Thursday.

As Joe Root became England’s leading run-getter in Test cricket, the Three Lions skipper Ben Stokes on Wednesday said that it’s going to take a long time for someone to break that record. Star England batter Joe Root on Wednesday achieved a remarkable feat as he went past Alastair Cook to become the leading run-getter for the Three Lions in Test cricket. Root achieved the feat during the first Test match between England and Pakistan on day three in Multan. The England batter leapfrogged Cook’s record when he reached the 71-run mark at the Multan Cricket Ground.

Speaking in a video shared on the England Cricket Board’s (ECB) social media handle, Stokes said that Root always puts the team first and is a selfless player.

“The amount of times that he’s won us the game with the bat. Never mind the conversion rate, because, you know, converting these 50s into 100s doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to win the game. But the selflessness that he has, is an incredible attribute for him. He always puts the team first and the fact that he has got so many runs is just a bonus for us. He’s an incredible player. It’s going to take a long, long time for someone to come in and break that record. And you know, an unbelievable feat to score that many runs…,” Stokes said.

Root has now scored 12,473 runs in the long format for England. Meanwhile, Cook had 12472 runs for the Three Lions in Test cricket.

In the 43rd over, Root achieved the record when he took just one single against Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed. Soon after the British cricketer achieved the record England’s dressing room stood and started clapping to honour the 33-year-old’s milestone.

At lunch of day three, England have posted 232/2 on the board, with Ben Duckett and Joe Root unbeaten with scores of 80 and 72, respectively. Till lunch, the visitors have added 136 runs in just 25 overs against Pakistan on the batting-friendly pitch in Multan.

In the first Test match in Multan, Pakistan scored 556 runs in their first inning. Abdullah Shafique (102), Shan Masood (151) and Agha Salman (104*) were the top run scorers for the hosts.

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (C), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.

Pakistan Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (C), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Agha Salman, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed.

Joe Root on Wednesday became England’s all-time leading run-scorer in Test cricket.© England Cricket

Former captain Joe Root entered history books by setting a new England record with his 34th Test century during Day 3 of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. Root, who had equalled Alastair Cook‘s record of most centuries for England (33) in the innings, went past his former teammate with another ton in the second innings. Root surpassed Cook with a boundary off Lahiru Kumara. With the mark coming from 111 balls, it was also Root’s fastest Test century. Cook has slammed his 33rd and final Test century in his last game for England. Meanwhile, Root has went past him in just his 145th Test.

However, Cook, who was on commentary duty at that time, showered huge praise on Root, and acknowledged that the latter is indeed England’s greatest and deserves to enter the history books.

“He is, quite simply, England’s greatest. And it’s absolutely right, he should have the record on his own. Take it in, Joe. We are watching a genius,” Cook said on-air while commentating for BBC Test Match Special.

Cook looked visibly emotional as Root cut Kumara for a boundary to get to the milestone. A video of the same has gone viral on social media.

A special moment for Joe Root as he reaches 34 Test hundreds.

The man whose record he surpasses was watching on.

Sir Alastair Cook Joe Root#bbccricket pic.twitter.com/EjjH9zd0mc

— Test Match Special (@bbctms) August 31, 2024

In addition to breaking Cook’s record, Root’s seventh Test hundred at Lord’s gave him sole possession of the most Test centuries at the iconic venue, surpassing England greats Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan, who each had six centuries at the ‘Home of Cricket.’

Root also joined an elite group of cricketers who have scored centuries in both innings of a Test at Lord’s, becoming the fourth to do so after West Indies’ George Headley, Gooch, and Vaughan. While Gooch’s combined tally of 456 runs against India at Lord’s in 1990 remains the highest by any batsman in a single Test, Root’s latest century solidified his status as one of England’s greatest batsmen.

Root’s 34th Test century also moved him into joint-sixth place on the all-time list of Test century-makers, a prestigious group led by India’s Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record with 51 hundreds in 200 Tests. At 33 years old, Root is the only active player among these elite cricketers, further underlining his ongoing contribution to the game.

(With ANI Inputs)