Twitter Reactions: Alastair Cook steps down as England Test skipper

England Test skipper Alastair Cook has stepped down from his post on Monday with immediate effect but will continue to be available for selection for the future Test tours. England next faces South Africa in a Test series in England starting from July. His announcement came at a time when he was under severe pressure especially after losing the Test series to India 0-4. They also lost their first ever Test to Bangladesh during the 2 match series which was followed by the tour of India.

After captaining his nation in 59 Tests from 2012-2017, Cook finally decided to step down and give the younger Joe Root a crack at the highest honour. Cook took over the reign from Andrew Strauss in 2012 who is now the current director of the England team.

Despite the team’s indifferent form of late, Cook has captained England to many memorable victories. It was under his captaincy that England won a Test series in India by a 2-1 margin. Keeping in the mind the rarity of this happening, it will surely be a highlight of Cook’s captaincy career.

It wasn’t easy for Cook to step down after captaining the nation successfully for 5 years but he feels it was the correct time to call the shots for both himself and the team. “It’s been a huge honour to be England captain and to lead the Test team over the past five years. Stepping down has been an incredibly hard decision but I know this is the correct decision for me and at the right time for the team.

Also read: Alastair Cook steps down as captain of England Test team

“I’ve had time to reflect after the India series and this weekend I spoke to Colin Graves, the Chairman, to explain and offer my resignation. It’s a sad day personally in many ways but I want to thank everyone I’ve captained, all the coaches and support staff and, of course, the England supporters and the Barmy Army who follow us home and away and have given us unwavering support.” He was quoted by ECB.co.uk as saying.

Twitteratti was pretty active following his announcement and the whole cricketing fraternity took to their twitter account and wished him a successful road ahead. Here are some of the best tweets.