Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

“I think he’s the right man for it”

England all-rounder Ravi Bopara has announced there is no doubt in his mind that Alastair Cook should continue captaining the national team, despite his horrendous record in the ongoing tour of Australia.

Bopara’s comments come after England were whitewashed 5-0 in the recently concluded Ashes series and currently trail Australia 3-0 in the ongoing ODI series.

“I think naturally Alastair would be down,” Bopara said. “We’ve lost three games out of three and that’s a natural reaction straight after the game.

“I am surprised (by his comments). I think he’s the right man for it. I would love for him to carry on in both formats.

“I do believe that your best player should be your captain and I still believe that he is our best player.

“Batting at the top of the order he’s the type of guy that will go out and score hundreds for England. One hundred per cent the other players see it the same way.

“He may have lost self belief, a little bit, but speaking to him yesterday I strongly got the impression that he’s the right man for the job.”

Bopara also believes that people have been too quick to criticise Cook, especially since this is his first series loss since taking over as captain more than a year ago.

“It’s just a tough time,” Bopara said. “He’s the sort of guy who will turn it around. I think this is good for him and he will come out a much better person.

“Let’s just remember he is one of our most experienced players. He’s got a lot of experience, he knows what he’s doing. One of his strengths is he has a very good record as a captain.

“Previous to this Ashes tour he has a very good record. I don’t believe everything should be blamed on the captain, even though everything gets put on the captain. It’s not just about Alastair it’s about the rest of the team as well.

“We want to win because we’re here to win. We don’t just want to win to make someone feel better. We want to win because that’s what we’re paid to do.”