Sacking Alastair Cook not the solution: Sourav Ganguly

Harsha Bhogle, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly (R)

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has said that England selectors should reconsider their selection policy and not look at sacking Alastair Cook as an option to solve their recent woes in the international arena.

England have lost 7 of their last 9 Tests, which includes an Ashes whitewash and a home series loss to Sri Lanka; Cook has struggled both as a leader and a batsman. While former England players and critics have called for the 29-year-old’s axing, Ganguly, who is a part of the Star Sports commentary panel for the England-India series, is of the opinion that a captain is only as good as the team.

“It might just be a blessing in disguise if captaincy is taken away from him but I am never a supporter of a captain being asked to leave. I don’t know what will happen to his future as captain but the English selectors will be horrified at the thought of losing Cook the batsman,” Ganguly said.

The 42-year-old isn’t quite impressed with England basing their selection policy on the 2013-14 Ashes series outcome, a series in which they were whitewashed 0-5, as well.

He said: “The selectors must also realise that a captain is as good as his team and they should focus on picking match-winners even if they may not have buckets of runs in county cricket. They panicked after the Ashes and I just get a feeling that English crickets decisions depend on Ashes and that is so wrong. Yes, they were ordinary in Australia but some of the radical changes they have made will hurt them for a while now.”

With 3 more matches remaining, England trail 0-1 in the ongoing Test series against India. It is difficult to see Cook continuing as the captain if the home team fails to turn this series around.