England captain Alastair Cook rated his side's historic 2-1 Test series win in India every bit as special as their 2010-11 Ashes success in Australia
Cook led his team to a victory, in his first tour as permanent Test captain, which many thought was beyond them. However, Cook’s team fought back with successive victories in Mumbai and Kolkata and yesterday, thanks to centurions Jonathan Trott (143) and Ian Bell (116 not out), they finished the job with a series-clinching draw in Nagpur.
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Cook led from the front throughout, including a defiant 176 in that initial defeat and then a big century too in each of the next two Tests.
But it was after watching Trott and Bell combine so relentlessly to keep India at bay for more than 150 overs in England’s second-innings 352 for four declared yesterday that Cook naturally felt the greatest sense of satisfaction.
“I think it’s on a par with the Ashes,” he said, having scored a mountain of runs both then and now.
“As an Englishman, winning in Australia after so long meant a huge amount,” Cook added.