Joe Root puts his weight behind the 'under-performing' Alastair Cook

England’s ace Test cricketer Alastair Cook is now facing the heat for his string of poor performances. Cook hasn’t had the best of times with the bat in the last year or so and his performances have only deteriorated in the series against India. The left-hander only scored 80 runs in 5 innings in this series at an average of just 16.

His average has slumped to an all-time low of 19 this year and hence he is facing the wrath of the fans and the media. There have also been quite a few talks surrounding his retirement after all these poor shows. After the loss in the third Test against India, the fans and media lashed out at Cook for his batting performance.

‘Alastair Cook is a world-class performer’

But, Joe Root came out in his defence and stated that Cook was a world-class performer. The 27-year-old English skipper also noted that everytime the fans and media writes Alastair Cook off, he comes back even stronger.

“He’s a world-class performer. He’s proven that time and time again. And actually, I’d like you to write him off because every time he’s written off he comes back and scores a double hundred. We have to be realistic about these things.

You look at both sides, both top orders have struggled and it might be that’s the case again in Southampton. There’s no-one with more experience currently in Test cricket than him. So I’m sure he will be calling upon all of that going into that game and giving himself the best chance,” Root was quoted as saying in ESPNcricinfo.

When questioned if Alastair Cook still had the desire and hunger to score runs, the English skipper replied in the affirmative. He also hoped that Cook could continue playing the Ashes next summer. “I do, yes, but ultimately you’d have to speak to him about that. You never really know what someone is thinking if you’re being brutally honest about things but you watch him apply himself in training and go about his practice on the morning of every game.

The way he speaks on the field, the way he speaks to the batters around the group and offers his experience it doesn’t look like someone who is thinking about jacking it in. He seems very much dedicated to helping this team and scoring as many runs as he can,” he concluded.

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