'That Indian side wasn't great': Alastair Cook's brutal take on England's 2-2 series draw

NEW DELHI: Batting legend Alastair Cook said England’s 2-2 home Test series draw against Shubman Gill-led India came against “not a great Indian side”, raising concerns over the team’s preparation for the Ashes, in which they are currently trailing 0-3.


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The five-match series against India earlier this year ended level, marking Gill’s first assignment as Test captain. The young batter enjoyed a prolific campaign, scoring 754 runs with four centuries.



Cook, however, felt England’s recent performances had papered over deeper issues, giving a false sense of progress.

“They started off with a bang, Key, McCullum and Stokes. I think McCullum won his first eight out of 10 games or something the first year. Since then it's gone downhill,” Cook said on the opening day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

“This year I think their percentage of win is like just above 30 percent so it's a bit of a downward trend.

“...I like Rob Key, I like McCullum, I like how they think but I do think they've, this last little bit, they have taken our eye off the ball for the bigger series.”

Referring to the India series, Cook added, “... they were talking about India, they lost, they drew India and India just got thumped by South Africa. So that Indian side wasn't a great Indian side either.

“So actually it's a reality, it's just hit this England Test team and now they're going to decide how they want to play with what players afterwards.”

England have suffered defeats in the first three Tests of the Ashes against Australia, losing by eight wickets in Perth and Brisbane and by 82 runs in Adelaide.



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