Alastair Cook Lauds England Character After Crushing Win Over India
England captain Alastair Cook had some sympathy for the Indian batsmen after the humiliating 3-1 series loss and said it was always going to be hard for them to sustain the English bowlers in those conditions.
After an innings and 244-run victory over India earned England a thumping 3-1 win in the five-match Test series, skipper Alastair Cook sounded more relieved than happy. The young captain said England's imposing series victory was achieved largely with the help of support from the players' families and the team staff. (Scorecard | Highlights
"In sport, you have tough times and it's the character you need to show to bounce back. The support has been fantastic, from the families as well, and it means we can go out and play some good cricket," said Cook at the post-match presentation.
Just about six months ago, England were whitewashed 5-0 by Australia in the Ashes tour Down Under. They were then beaten 1-0 by Sri Lanka at home earlier this summer. India gave England a taste of defeat once again at Lord's in the second Test last month. Serious questions were raised then over the future of Cook's Test captaincy. (How Divine Intervention Didn't Help India)
England came back hard to beat India by 266 runs at Southampton in the third Test after the Lord's debacle and then won the Old Trafford Test by a massive margin of an innings and 54 runs. The Oval Test win was the last nail in the coffin for an utterly depressing Indian performance. (India Have Lost Confidence After Humiliating Loss: Dhoni)
"It was an amazing performance and to win like we've won after what happened at Lord's, the players and the staff can take an enormous amount of credit for it. All summer, before we won at Southampton, we played good cricket in patches and then let it go after an hour or so. To maintain pressure like we did in the last few games was impressive," added Cook.
The Indian batsmen looked completely clueless facing the English seam attack led by James Anderson and Stuart Broad throughout the series. Cook had some sympathy for the Indians and said it was always going to be hard for them to sustain their bowlers in the English conditions. ÂÂ
"When you score runs, with our bowling attack in these conditions, it's hard for the opposition. It's a shame that we will not be playing any Tests till April against the West Indies but we have a lot of Test cricket after that. We have to enjoy tonight, look at how we have got things to click and then take it on," concluded an ecstatic Cook.
After an amazing comeback by England in the five-match series, it looks as if Cook will continue to lead the side in the West Indies next year and in the 2015 Ashes.