Alastair Cook: Once a legend, always a legend

Alastair Cook is set to retire after the Test series against India. He is regarded as one of the distinguished batsmen in the cricket history and one of the greatest captains of England. He proved to be an X-factor for his team.

Here's looking at Alastair Cook's journey as a legendary batsman.

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#1 Initial Years (2003 -2006)

Alastair Cook joined Essex County Cricket Club at the age of 16. Due to his impressive domestic performances, he got a chance to represent England in U19 World Cup in 2004. He was the highest run-scorer for England in the tournament with 383 runs.

Due to his exploits in 2004 season, he was brought in as an opening batsman for Marylebone Cricket Club in 2005 season's opening match against Warwickshire. In 2005, he was the PCA Young Cricketer of the Year.

#2 International Career (2006 -

2011)

Alastair Cook played his first Test against India on 1 March 2006. He scored a century on Test debut in the second innings. His ODI debut was against Sri Lanka on 28 June 2006, but it was not memorable for him. Due to his impressive performances, he was selected for the 2006-07 Ashes series. However, he failed to perform in the first two Tests of the series. In the third Test, he scored his maiden Ashes century. In the same series, he scored his 1000th Test run in the fourth Test on 28 December.

Cook won his first Man of the Match in the Test against Windies on 21 May 2007. He made his T20I debut on 28 June 2007. But his T20I career was limited to just four matches.

Cook played a pivotal role in 2009 Ashes and helped his team win the series. He was temporarily appointed as Test captain for the series against Bangladesh in 2010.

In 2010-11 Ashes series, Cook scored his first-class double century. He was presented with the Man of the Series award in the same series.

#3 Captaincy (2011 - 2017)

After England's exit from the 2011 World Cup, Cook was named as the ODI captain after Andrew Strauss' resignation. He won his first ODI series as a captain against Sri Lanka. But, he failed to win an away series against India in the same year.

He was appointed the Test Captain after the retirement of Strauss in August 2012. He was the first English captain to win a Test series in India since 1984-85.

He led his team to the finals of ICC Champions Trophy 2013. But, his team lost the match against India by five runs. As a result, they were runners-up of the tournament.

The 2013 Ashes series was Cook's first Ashes win as a captain. However, the 2013-14 Ashes was forgettable for him.

Cook played his last ODI against Sri Lanka on 16 December 2014. On 19 December 2014, Cook was replaced by Eoin Morgan as ODI captain due to his poor form. However, he continued to captain his team in Tests.

He captained England in 2015 Ashes. It was his second Ashes win as a captain. In the Test series against Pakistan, he became highest non-Asian batsman to score runs in Tests in Asia. In 2016 series against Sri Lanka, he became the only English batsman to reach the landmark of 10,000 runs and also he was the youngest player to do this. He reached this landmark in his 229th innings played at Chester-le-Street between 27-31 February 2016 against Sri Lanka.

In series against Pakistan, he became the highest run-scorer as an opener in Tests. However, he struggled to perform and failed to win the series against Bangladesh and India. He resigned from Test captaincy on 6 February 2017. He captained his team in 59 matches, with 24 wins to his name.

#4 End of career (2017 - 2018)

After Cook's resignation from captaincy, he played under the new captain Joe Root. He had a memorable series against South Africa and Windies. In 2017-18 Ashes, he became the highest individual scorer as an opener to carry the bat throughout the innings. He did it in the Boxing Day test. But in the Test series against New Zealand, he did not perform well.

Due to his poor performances in the Test, he announced his International retirement. He will be playing his last test against India on 7 September 2018.

He scored 12254 runs in Tests with 32 centuries, 5 double centuries and 56 half centuries. He has scored the most number of runs and the most number of centuries for his country in Tests.