Lara Over Sachin; Rohit, Kohli Ignored As Alastair Cook Names His All-Time XI
Alastair Cook Names His All-Time XI- (X.com)
On Tuesday, September 17, former England captain Alastair Cook name-dropped his all-time XI. Cook, who is England's leading run-getter in Test cricket, excluded himself, but shockingly, named no Indian in the list.
Cook has been trending on social media as the fans are upset with him for not naming the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, or Virat Kohli in the list.
Cook Ignores Sachin, Virat, and Rohit
In the opening slot, Cook preferred Australia's Matthew Hayden and his idol Graham Gooch, whom he made the captain as well. For the No.3 slot, Cook, who was once touted to surpass Sachin in the list of most runs in Test cricket, selected West Indies legend Brian Lara over Tendulkar.
Rest, Cook named Ricky Ponting, AB de Villiers, Kumar Sangakkara, and Jacques Kallis in the middle order. In the bowling department, Cook opted for Shane Warner and Muttiah Muralitharan as the two spinners, while he named England legend James Anderson and Glenn McGrath as the fast-bowling options.
Alastair Cook Picks His All-Time XI:
1. Graham Gooch (c)
2. Matthew Hayden
3. Brian Lara
4. Ricky Ponting
5. AB de Villiers
6. Kumar Sangakkara (wk)
7. Jacques Kallis
8. Shane Warne
9. James Anderson
10. Muttiah Muralitharan
11. Glenn McGrath
Cook Ignores Joe Root
In another surprising move, Cook ignored Joe Root in the list. Notably, Root is England's leading run-getter across all formats and is the frontrunner to surpass Cook's record for most runs for England in Test cricket.
Root has 12402 runs in 146 matches for England and requires only 70 runs to surpass Root to become England's leading run-getter in Tests. Further, there is another debate over Root breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record for most Test runs. Root requires less than 4000 runs to break Tendulkar's record.