England great Geoffrey Boycott wants Alastair Cook to give up captaincy

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Delhi: In the wake of series defeat against India, former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott said on Wednesday that Alastair Cook should step down as Test captain.

He added, as per BBC, that this would give Cook's likely successor Joe Root time to settle in before the 2017-18 Ashes in Australia.

Boycott was quoted as saying by the media house - "If we are to have a new captain, he needs all seven Tests to get his feet under the table. We don't want Alastair giving it up after three or four Tests."

"He's a top professional and a top batsman. But I don't think it's helpful to him or the team or English cricket if he's in two minds what to do. Whoever captains in England this summer has seven Tests (against South Africa and West Indies) before the biggest series of all in the Ashes. If it is going to be Root - which it will be - he needs seven Test matches to put his stamp on it. Players need to get with his style," Boycott was further quoted as saying by BBC.

It's not right time to decide on captaincy: Cook

However, after the fourth Test, Cook had said that he won't make any foolish decision on his Test captaincy but had admitted that he needs to think if he was the right man for the leadership role.

"I've got to go away and do some thinking. This is not right time to make decisions as big as that. I need to go home first enjoy Christmas as much as I can do and then come back in January and look to plan with Straussy and see what?s the right decision for English cricket," Cook had said.

"I've got to go away and decide whether I am the right man to take England forward. It?s the wrong time to make those decisions as energy is low and you can make foolish decisions," he had added.

"When there's not a Test match for seven months it'd seem very foolish to stand here now and make a decision which either you regret or don't. If there was a Test match in three weeks time you'd have to think. But while there is a bit of space why not use it? It's been a tough tour. When you lose games of cricket it becomes very hard and it can be quite a lonely place. You've got to give credit to India. They've played some good cricket on the way. We knew it would be a pressure day today and at some stage we would lose a wickets in clusters. We weren't good enough or skillful enough as players to stop that momentum. So, yes, it's tough," Cook had further said, as per PTI.

India's victory in fourth Test

On December 20, India clinched the five-match series 4-0 with an innings and 75-run victory in the fifth and final cricket Test against England in Chennai. 

Spinner Ravindra Jadeja was the hero of the day as he returned exceptional figures of 7/48 to spell doom for England.

However, triple-centurion Karun Nair walked away with the Man of the Match award for his unbeaten 303-run knock that set the tone for the victory.

In the process of winning their ninth match of the year to stretch an unbeaten run to 18, the hosts wrote and rewrote a plethora of records, including notching up their biggest-ever series victory over England.

Their previous best was the 3-0 verdict under Mohammed Azharuddin's captaincy in 1992-93.

The win also made it India's longest unbeaten run in Test cricket, surpassing the previous best of 17 wins between 198-87.

(With Agency inputs)