Watch Cook admit Pietersen episode his biggest regret

Alastair Cook has admitted that the episode of sacking of Kevin Pietersen from the England team is his biggest regret.

Cook who has recently announced his retirement from international cricket was speaking at a press conference on Wednesday. Cook shared his views regarding the Pietersen episode which is considered as one of the lowest points of England cricket of this decade.

Cook said that the KP affair was no doubt a tough year. He also added that the fallout wasn’t great for England cricket and for him. He also thinks that it could have been handled differently and he regrets it because it wasn’t good for England cricket.

Talking about his role in this saga, Cook said that he was involved in that decision without making the final decision.

Watch Cook talk about his biggest regret in his cricket career here.

In 2014, England Cricket Board sacked Kevin Pietersen, one of England’s leading cricketers citing that he didn’t offer Cook, the captain enough support. ECB had stated that Pietersen had breached trust and team ethics.

The reason behind this decision was England’s horrific whitewash in the Ashes series and some of Pietersen’s actions. The rift between Cook and Pietersen was widening day by day and ECB considered Pietersen’s sacking as the only way forward to ensure the team stayed together.

This decision had created a huge uproar and was seen as a massive PR failure for the cricket board as Pietersen was a popular cricketer across the globe.

However, with time, it seemed as both parties have left behind the past and infact Pietersen even praised Cook after he announced his retirement.

Pietersen tweeted about Cook’s statistics and his contribution.

Big numbers!

BIG BIG numbers but his biggest and best attribute was his mental strength when batting.

Happy retirement, Allistair! ?? pic.twitter.com/P35hnt8C9D

— Kevin Pietersen? (@KP24) September 3, 2018

In the press conference, Cook also spoke about other difficult times in his career. He spoke about the time when under his captaincy, England had lost the home series against Sri Lanka and were trailing behind India 0-1 after two Tests in 2014.

But England made a comeback and won the next three Tests to win the series 3-1. Cook said that when it was really tough, he didn’t throw the towel in. He believed he was the best man for the job and the team got the reward by winning the Ashes series in 2015.