Alastair Cook’s rise in the 50-overs format - Opinion
The left-handed opening batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013’s domestic cricket as the player from Gloucester stepped up the ladder by doing well at the junior circuit.
After performing exceptionally well in county cricket and England Under-19s, Cook made his Test debut in 2006 against in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and has been a permanent member of the English Test side since then.
At a young age, the gutsy batsman has already played 80 Tests and has scored more than six thousand runs with the help of 19 centuries. This is an amazing record, considering the fact that the left-hander can easily represent his country for another decade.
Cook’s progress in the limited-overs format however, has not been as smooth. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut in the same year but could not cement his place in the team until recently.
England have never been a great team in the limited-overs format of the game and have only one International Trophy, which came in the 2010 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 Cup.
In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, the Poms miserably failed to deliver the goods, as they were beaten in the league stage by some of the weaker teams like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964, the then captain of the English team announced his retirement from the limited-overs format of the game after the mega event and restricted himself to the longer version only.
Cook was appointed the ODI skipper after Strauss’ resignation, which was quite a surprising move as the left-hander was not even a part of the ODI team at that time. The English selectors’ decision was severely criticized by the former cricketers, while
many experts raised question marks about Cook’s ability to keep up with the pace of the limited-overs cricket
The Essex-batsman, against all odds, answered his critics in style and did a splendid job, both as captain as well as an opening batsman.
The English captain is currently placed at number seven in the ICC’s ODI Batsmen Rankings. Since making his return, Cook has played 21 matches, in which he has scored more than a thousand runs at a smashing average of 54.47, which also includes four centuries
and many other classy knocks. These are extremely impressive stats, taking into account the fact that the left-handed opener was under immense pressure to perform well when he made a comeback.
On top of that, his career strike-rate has also improved big time and now it stands at more than 80 runs per 100 balls, which is more than acceptable for a top-order batsman.
The most important thing is that England have found a stable leader in a format, in which they have struggled over the years. Under the captaincy of the opening batsman, England have won limited-overs series against India, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760.
After a long time, the British look like a formidable team in the 50-overs version, although their premier batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 has called it a day on the shorter formats. In the presence of a solid batting line-up and a bowling attack which consists
of five world-class bowlers, England is now one of the leading ODI teams of the world.
If Cook can maintain his level of his fitness, English selectors do not have much to worry about in terms of the opening slot and the leadership of the ODI team for many years to come.
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