Who said what: World bids adieu to Alastair Cook, the legend who signed off his Test career in style

What's the news?

Alastair Cook is undoubtedly one of the greatest batsmen the world has ever seen and today, the world has seen his last performance with the bat. The left-handed maestro scored 147 runs his final innings and went onto become the fifth batsman to score a century in the first and last matches of Test career.

Even in the first innings of the Test match, Cook scored a half-century, which helped his side to get a first innings lead of 40 runs. In total, the southpaw scored 218 runs in his final Test match.

In case you didn't know:

England have already won the Test series 3-1 and Cook announced his retirement in the aftermath of the series victory. He has now played his final Test at the Kennington Oval and will be looking forward to enjoying his life off the field.

The 33-year-old batsman did not have a great series till now but has brought back his A-game for his final Test. In the first innings, he scored 71 and he followed it with a big hundred in the second innings. His 259-run partnership with Joe Root has put England in a position of complete dominance in the final Test.

Heart of the matter:

Alastair Cook has been a regular opener in the English Test side since he made his debut. In 161 matches, the southpaw scored 12472 runs his illustrious Test career spanning over twelve years. In addition to that, he also played 92 ODI games for England in which he scored 3204 runs.

Cook has been a consistent performer for the English side in the longest format of the game. With this hundred, his tally of centuries is now 33 in addition to the 57 half-centuries notched up by him.

Final say:

The retirement of Cook will definitely leave a big void in the English Test. It will be a tough task for England to find a replacement soon. Before going to that, let us be thankful for incredible work done by Alastair Cook to popularise the game of cricket.

As Cook played his final innings, world thanks him for all the memories he created:

Theresa May:

Congratulations to Alastair Cook on his magnificent innings of 147 – a fitting end to a remarkable career. #ENGvIND

— Theresa May (@theresa_may) September 10, 2018

Micheal Vaughan:

12,472 reasons why the game of international cricket thanks Alastair Cook ... #ThanksChef

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 10, 2018

Aakash Chopra:

Root’s got a century too. Indian bowling hasn’t looked so pedestrian in a long long time. Ishant sorely missed. Waiting for the declaration.... #EngvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 10, 2018

Russel Arnold:

Congratulations Alastair Cook !! #ENGvIND You couldn’t have Cooked up a better finish to a wonderful career... Wish you well in retirement !!

— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) September 10, 2018

Saqlain Mushtaq:

Congratulations Alastair Cook 👩‍🍳 #Champion Innings 🏏👌🏻

— Saqlain Mushtaq (@Saqlain_Mushtaq) September 10, 2018

Harsha Bhogle:

A century in your last innings. And an ovation that looked like it would never end. It was, as Joe Root said, "written in the stars". What a moment for the mighty Alastair Cook.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 10, 2018

Sanjay Majrekar:

In his final Test, his 161st, Alastair Cook was standing at forward short leg. Need we say anything more about this man!🙏🙏🙏#AlastairCook

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 10, 2018

Alastair Cook has played 160 Tests & just 92 ODIs. He is a Test cricketer to the core. No wonder England love him so much.😌

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 10, 2018

Tom Moody:

What a way to say goodbye...test 💯 No 33 for Alastair Cook, richly deserved! #topclass #Congratulations

— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) September 10, 2018

Piers Morgan:

Goodbye, Alastair Cook. We've had our differences, but it would be churlish not to acknowledge your enormous contribution to English cricket. You made the very best of your abilities, worked ferociously hard, scored a barrel-load of runs & ended on a high. Congratulations. 👍 pic.twitter.com/qJpMJKOQRc

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 10, 2018

Mick Jagger:

Congratulations Alastair Cook on your farewell 100 and for giving us all such pleasure over the years.

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) September 10, 2018

Wahab Riaz:

Nothing better than a hundred to honor and bid farewell to the long format of our game. Test Cricket will miss you, Mr Chef 👨‍🍳 Best of luck for the future 🙌🏼#CookRetires https://t.co/c12dbKuJH4

— Wahab Riaz (@WahabViki) September 10, 2018

Mel Jones:

Longest standing applause I’ve ever seen! Well done Oval crowd, brilliant Alastair Cook. #FirstAndLast 💯

— Mel 'MJ' Jones (@meljones_33) September 10, 2018

Dimuth Karunaratne:

Well done Cook....absolutely wonderfull 147 n his last inning...You will be missed for Sure,Thanks for entertainment over the years #ChefCook #oneofmyfavorite#CookRetires

— Dimuth Karunaratne (@IamDimuth) September 10, 2018

Boria Majumdar:

What is sport without these emotions? To see the way Jimmy Anderson and Joe Root celebrated Alastair Cook is just why we still call this sport the gentleman’s game. And glad there is a good crowd at the Oval.

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) September 10, 2018

James Pierce:

What a moment for Alastair Cook. The dream end to an unbelievable England career. 👏👏👏👏

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) September 10, 2018

Mohammad Kaif:

And Alastair Cook deservedly becomes the highest scoring left-hander in test cricket. Looks set to score a century in his last innings to go with his debut 100 against India 12 years ago in Nagpur #ENGvIND

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) September 10, 2018