Sachin Tendulkar has paid tribute to former England captain Alastair Cook, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Monday. “#AlastairCook has been one of the finest batsmen to have represented @ECB_cricket, and his conduct on-field and off it, has been impeccable,” said Tendulkar in his tweet. Tendulkar is just one of many current and former cricketers who have paid tribute to Cook, who will play his final Test, his 161st, at the Oval starting on September 7.
Cook announced on Monday he would retire from international cricket after the fifth Test against India, with England’s leading Test run-scorer saying he had “nothing left in the tank”.
The 33-year-old Essex left-hander has amassed 12,254 runs at 44.88 including 32 hundreds, while his run of 158 consecutive Test appearances is a world record. His illustrious Test career includes 32 Test centuries in a total of 160 Tests which are more than any other England player’s and is the 10th-most overall. Five of these centuries were converted to double hundreds. He has made 56 half-centuries, taken 173 catches and was a part of four Ashes series wins.
However, the former England captain, who has played in 160 Tests in total, has struggled for runs recently and averages a meagre 18.62 from nine Tests this year.
