It was a fairytale ending for Alastair Cook: Gautam Gambhir

Back in March 2006, a player by the name of Alastair Cook made his international debut for England in their match against India in Nagpur. After scoring 60 graceful runs, the youngster notched his maiden century in the second innings and ever since he didn’t look back. His career spanned 12 long years and he ended with 12472 runs in 161 matches at a decent average of 45.35.

England’s final Test against India at Kennington Oval in London turned out to be his final appearance in national colours. He racked up 71 runs in the first innings and then went on to pile his 33rd Test ton. Moreover, he stitched a 259-run stand with captain Joe Root to well and truly push India on the backfoot. Recently, Gautam Gambhir praised the 33-year-old batsman.

“It was a fairytale ending for Alastair Cook. He started his Test career with a century and he ended his career with a ton as well. He deserves every bit of it. His partnership with Joe Root completely took the game away from India,” Gambhir was quoted as saying in The Times of India (TOI).

Cook’s struggle of late

Cook didn’t have a great time in the last one year or so. He scored a couple of double centuries against Windies and Australia in Birmingham and Melbourne respectively, but apart from that, he couldn’t deliver the goods for his team. Even the first four matches ongoing series against India turned out to be equivalent to a nightmare for the Gloucester-born cricketer.

In most instances, he got starts, but couldn’t convert them. Previously, he mentioned that he had been contemplating retirement for the last 18 months for the reason that he felt to have lost his touch. He eventually ran out of patience and decided to call it a day after England’s 60-run victory at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton.

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