Alastair Cook to take his time before deciding on his future

England Test skipper Alastair Cook has not had the best of times in the recent past. Cook was named the captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year 2016 at the recent ICC Awards. However, that accolade did not take the year end performances to their consideration. Towards the end of 2016, England were up against the mighty task of playing India in India.

Beating the number one ranked Test team in their own den was never going to be easy. But Alastair Cook led England had promised a lot especially after having won their previous tour to India in 2012. They started off on a great note at Rajkot where they gave the hosts a brief scare on the last day. However, their form and performances slumped as the tournament progressed.

The eventual result saw England drubbed 0-4 at the hands of India in the 5 match Test series. Criticism came in flogging from all corners for the English skipper. Many felt that it was high time for Alastair Cook to take a call on his career or at least step down from the captaincy post. Many wanted to see Joe Root take over as the new skipper. But Cook chose to speak little after the disaster.

Now, as per the recent reports in Sky Sports, Alastair Cook is all set to meet the England team director Andrew Strauss on January 13. The two men will discuss the future prospects but it is anticipated that the ECB or Andrew Strauss will not push Cook to a decision in a hurry. This is primarily due to the reason that England do not have any more Tests to play until mid 2017. Their next Test assignment comes only in July 2017.

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Cook has been leading the England team in the longest format of the game since 2012 after Andrew Strauss had retired. He had led England in most number of Tests – 59 matches. England under Cook have not won a series in their last three attempts. They had drawn series against Pakistan and Bangladesh before losing to India. England will play their next Test against South Africa in July. It will be interesting to see if Alastair Cook continues to lead the team in that series as well.