I Have Regret Over Kevin Pietersen's Sacking, Admits Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook has admitted he regrets his role in the sacking of Kevin Pietersen.

The former England skipper will end his glittering career when the upcoming fifth Test against India concludes at The Oval. One of the best ever batsmen to represent England, Cook enjoyed a career that was almost free from any major controversy.  However, one of the few controversies were the way Kevin Pietersen was sacked during his eventful captaincy regime.

Pietersen played his last Test in Sydney in early 2014 as England slumped to a 5-0 whitewash.  Keeping the performance in the Ashes aside, Pietersen . was one of their best batsmen at that moment. Just a couple of years ago, his magnificent ton had helped England win a rare Test series in India. However, Pietersen was unceremoniously axed from the England squad in 2014 citing massive trust issues. At that time, Pietersen was England’s leading run-scorer in Tests, a record that was eventually broken by Cook.

Cook led England in a English record 59 Tests, famously leading them to victory in India in 2012-13, home Ashes wins in 2013 and 2015, and a series triumph in South Africa in 2015-16. But sadly, his legacy as captain will be affected to an extent by the Pietersen controversy.

And Cook, on Wednesday, admitted the saga around Pietersen’s departure in 2014 could have been handled differently.

“The moment Andrew Strauss came on board and he said he made the decision, I think for me personally that was the best thing that could have happened.

“I have regret over it because it wasn’t great for English cricket, the whole fallout of it,” he said.

He also said that his lowest point as captain came in 2014 when England lost to Sri Lanka at home and were routed by India at Lord’s. England, however, had gone on to win the series against 3-1 which eased the pressure off Cook. The southpaw finally stepped down after his side lost 4-0 in India in 2016.

“The end of the Sri Lanka series (in 2014) and the second game at Lords (when India won by 95 runs), that period there was the lowest I was,” he said.

Controversies aside, Cook is retiring as England’s most decorated batsman in Tests.  England’s leading scorer in Tests, Cook has so far scored 12,254 runs and is sixth in the all-time list. He has scored 32 hundreds and 56 fifties, and averages 44.88.