Alastair Cook: The man with debut and farewell Test ton against India

Image Courtesy: Twitter/@ICC

England batsman Alastair Cook hit his 33rd Test century on Monday in the final match against India, just before he retired from international cricket.

Cook was greeted with a standing ovation as a boundary completed his century in his 291st innings. With the ton, Cook also secured the fifth spot in the list of leading run-scorers in Test matches, as he went past Kumar Sangakkara's record of 12,400 Test runs.

Cook is the only batsman among players with 100+ Test appearances to score a century on both debut as well as the last match. Interestingly, Cook's Test debut, as well as his last match, came against India.

The English cricketer played his first Test match against India in 2006 where he scored a 104 not-out in the second innings. Another interesting fact is that Cook completed his last century also in the second innings of the Test match.

The left-hander removed his helmet and raised his bat as he acknowledged the applause from the Oval crowd, who gave a standing ovation lasting almost two minutes.

What might have been a Test match of limited appeal has been transformed into the Alastair Cook show.

The audience gave him a standing ovation when he walked out to bat in the morning sunshine, another when he reached 50 with a trademark boundary off his legs.

The loudest and longest, however, was reserved for the moment Cook reached his 33rd Test century.

Cook, now the leading left-handed run scorer in Test history, struck eight boundaries on his way to three figures.