First Appearance

During a tour of England, Cook was called up to the team to replace captain Michael Vaughan, and he made his test debut against India in Nagpur in March 2006 with an outstanding 104. He secured a regular spot on the national side as a result.

Ascend to Glory

Cook experienced immediate success in tests when he became just the second player in history to surpass 1000 runs in just his first test season.

Cook nearly single-handedly drowned Australia during the 2010–11 Ashes by amassing 766 runs (three tonnes and one double ton) in five games. Cook showed brilliance against quality spinners during the 2012-13 India tour by scoring 562 runs in 4 matches. Cook maintains a better average in the sub-continent (53.13) than his career batting average (46.49).

Cook has so far scored five double century in tests, the highest of which was his 294 against India at Edgbaston in 2011. He was named "ICC Test Player of the Year" in 2011. He exceeded 1000 test runs five times in a single year (2006, 2010, 2012, and 2015).

Low Point

Cook's ODI career hasn't exactly been fruitful because he only averaged 36.41 in 92 ODIs. Between July 2013 and April 2015, he failed to record a three-figure score in 35 innings of test play. Cook served as England's captain during the ODI tour of Sri Lanka. He did not perform well, though, as England lost both of the first two games with scores of 10 and 22.

Cook scored 34 in England's victory in the third game, however, he was later suspended from the next match due to a sluggish overrate. He scored 20 points in the fifth game, which England won to extend the series. Cook made scores of 1 and 32 in the last two games, but they still lost. The team's 5-2 series loss raised concerns about Cook's captaincy.

Captaincy

In 2012, Cook was captain and made England win a test series on Indian soil for the first time in 28 years.

Additionally, he guided England to two Ashes victories at home in 2013 and 2015 but lost the 2013 Ashes to Australia by a score of 5-0.

In February 2017, following a test series draw against Bangladesh and a 4-0 thrashing in India, Cook announced his resignation as captain.

Cook, though, is the record holder for leading England in the most tests (59 tests). Cook shares a second place on the list for most victories as England's test captain with 24 victories, just behind Michael Vaughn (26 victories).

Cook’s record

Cook served as a captain of the English team in 59 Tests and 69 ODIs. He is England's second-most-capped Test player. He is the youngest player to achieve 12,000 Test runs and the highest run-scorer for England in Test matches (the sixth overall, and the only Englishman).

Cook is the first England player to win 50 Test matches and has a record 33 Test centuries for England. He plays first to slip as a left-handed opening batsman and is the highest-scoring left-hander in Test cricket.

Retirement

Cook declared on September 3, 2018, that the conclusion of the series against India on September 11, 2018, will mark the end of his twelve-year international career.