Alastair Cook gets Guard of Honour: The Indian team present the legendary English batsman with a Guard of Honour.
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During the fifth Test match of the ongoing Pataudi Trophy between England and India at The Oval, England captain Joe Root won the toss yet again. His decision to bat first made clear that the retiring Alastair Cook, former England captain and their highest run-scorer in Test cricket, would be getting a go in the middle today itself.
As is the norm regarding departing players of Cook’s stature, the 33-year old southpaw received a heart-warming gesture from the Indian cricket team in the form of a Guard of Honour when he came out to open the batting for England.
As Cook walked on the ground, he was seen acknowledging the Indian players’ gesture. The opposition captain in Virat Kohli was standing at the end of the line along with the umpires. Kohli greeted the legendary player, wishing him luck on his last international appearance.
Following a dry run with the bat, Cook had announced his retirement earlier this week. His numbers at the top of the order were abysmal. Barring two respective double-centuries against West Indies and Australia on flat wickets, Cook had nothing to show in front of his name in the last year or so.
Since the news of his retirement coming out, Cook has received approbation from past and current cricketers around the world. Cook will undoubtedly go down as one of greatest batsmen to have played the game.
Having also made his debut against India at Nagpur in 2006, over his 12-year long international career, Cook has scored 12,254 runs in 160 matches (excluding the last match) at an average of 44.88 and a strike rate of 46.97. He has 32 centuries and 56 half-centuries to his name.
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