Aussie cricket legend Mark Waugh slams former England skipper Alastair Cook for making excuses after India take control of fifth Test: ‘This is what you train for and get paid for’
- Alastair Cook believes England players are exhausted after the India Series
- Five tests spread over eight weeks, likely to be outclassed 4-1 by the hosts
- Cook stated that touring India is ‘tough’ and players ‘are not robots’
- Australian cricket great Mark Waugh was stunned and gave his opinion on X
Australian cricket legend Mark Waugh has slammed Alastair Cook after the former England skipper declared Ben Stokes’ failing team are ‘not robots’.
The comment came after a test day in the field for the tourists, where India piled on the runs in Dharamshala.
At stumps on day two of the fifth Test, the hosts led by 255 runs, with centuries for Shubman Gill (110) and Rohit Sharma (103) among the highlights.
With England staring down a likely 4-1 defeat on the subcontinent, Cook went to work for Brendon McCullum’s team, who continue to struggle at Test level despite the rise of ‘Bazball’, their new brand of entrepreneurial cricket.
“We’re sitting here away from the emotions of the game,” Cook said in comments for TNT Sports.
Australian cricket legend Mark Waugh has slammed Alastair Cook after the former England captain declared Ben Stokes’ team ‘aren’t robots’
Waugh couldn’t believe Cook, who said England’s cricketers deserve some sympathy as an almost eight-week tour of India is ‘tough’
‘We are sitting here at home watching television. I’m not defending England, but they’ve been away for eight weeks.
‘It’s a tough journey, they’re not robots. I’m not defending their achievements, but there is a human element in wanting to go home to escape the pressure.
‘We kind of forget that, don’t we? The human element of a player going through the next few days is incredibly tough.”
In response, Waugh was stunned by Cook’s opinion. He didn’t mince his words with X.
‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this from Alistair Cook’ he tweeted.
‘As an international cricketer you train for this and you get paid for it. This (India) is one of the best tours you can do as an international cricketer.”
Waugh received widespread support online, with one fan on X claiming that England are quickly developing a culture of ‘accepting’ defeat.
India start day three of the fifth Test at 8/473, an imposing lead of 255 runs after the tourists were bowled out for a paltry 218 (photo, England captain Ben Stokes)
Meanwhile, Stokes shocked the cricket world after bowling five overs as he had not sent a delivery for 251 days due to injury.
He removed Sharma with a superb delivery – in what was the only highlight in what looms as a lost cause at the HPCA Stadium.
India start day three at 8/473, an imposing lead of 255 runs after the tourists were bowled out for a paltry 218.
Many cricket fans in Australia were probably asking the same question: at what price do the English players once again have the audacity to claim a ‘moral victory’ after another resounding defeat?
Time will tell.