I would have been very surprised if I captained again after the Chennai Test- Alastair Cook

Former English captain Alastair Cook stepped down from the national captaincy duties following their humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of India as he privately admitted that he wasn’t the ideal man to lead England to another Ashes title. It was during the week-long break in Dubai during the Test series against India that Cook asked himself the same question.

He was facing criticism from every quarter and former Aussie great Shane Warne attacked him both internally and externally which left him worn down. He asked himself “Am I leading the team forward?” and it has been the question which he had answered time and again to ratify his position as the English skipper.

Following England’s successive defeats in the opening two Tests against India Cook started questioning his captaincy skills but he still had the hopes of leading England in the next Ashes. But after two crushing defeats following their Dubai trip, Cook said he would have been pretty surprised if he had captained ever again.

“The dream of captaining the team to Australia was certainly there, and in my mind, I thought that it would have been a nice way to finish the captaincy. It was when we had a break in Dubai between the third and fourth Tests in India that I came back to that question.

“Sometimes getting away and outside the team, the bubble can help and our hotel was out in the sticks. We didn’t see any of the guys. When I came back, it was quite clear in my mind. Then came a couple of heavy defeats. By the time of leaving the field at the end of the final Test, I would have been very surprised if I captained again, though nobody knew that,” Cook was quoted as saying by The Times.

Cook’s stepping down has also paved way for the young legend Joe Root to take over the captaincy. Root will be in charge of the English team from the South Africa tour starting in July. Cook conceded that it will feel strange for the first week or so but after that normalcy will prevail.

“I won’t lie. I’m sure that first week will be strange. It will feel different when the group does an appearance and everyone looks to (Joe) for a lead. But once that week is out of the way, it’ll be business as usual. It’s been best that there’s been a (lengthy) break. People know Joe is now captain,” Cook said.