Alastair Cook Steps Down As England's Test Captain

Alastair Cook has stepped down as captain of the England Test team, as informed by the England and Wales Cricket Board. 

The decision comes a little over a month after England were thrashed 0-4 by India in a Test series that concluded in December 2016.

5-Match Test Series Results

Pataudi Trophy (England in India) (2016/17)

1st Test at Rajkot, 9-13 Nov 2016 - Match Drawn (Eng 537 and 260/3d; Ind 488 and 172/6)

2nd Test at Visakhapatnam, 17-21 Nov 2016 - India won by 246 runs (Ind 455 and 204; Eng 255 and 158)

3rd Test at Mohali, Chandigarh, 26-29 Nov 2016, India won by eight wickets (Eng 283 and 236; Ind 417 and 104/2)

4th Test at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai 8-12 Dec 2016 - India won by an innings and 36 runs (Eng 400 and 195; Ind 631)

5th Test at Chennai 16-20 Dec 2016 - India won by an innings and 75 runs (Eng 477 and 207; Ind 759/7d)

Result India 4, Drawn 1

Cook resigned from his position after discussions with the Chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board, Colin Graves, on Sunday evening Feb 05,2017 and has confirmed his continuing commitment to playing Test cricket to Director of England Cricket, Andrew Strauss, and the selectors.

ECB in a press release said that Cook's resignation has been accepted and the proper process has started to appoint England's next Test captain - the 80th in England’s Test match history.

Appointed in August 2012, Alastair Cook led the team through more Test matches than any other England captain. His record includes Ashes victories at home in 2013 and 2015 as well as series wins in India and South Africa. He also led the one-day side for 69 one-day internationals between 2010 and 2014, another England record.