"This Is What You Get Paid For": Australia Great Tears Into Alastair Cook

Former Australia player Mark Waugh heavily criticised ex-England player Alastair Cook for defending Ben Stokes and Co. despite their poor show in India during the five-match Test series. "There's a little bit of the human element that comes into it. We all sit here now away from the emotions of the game. We sit here at home watching tele (TV). I am not defending England, but they have been away for getting on to eight weeks. It's a tough tour; they're not robots. I am not defending their performance but there is human element of wanting to get home and to get out of pressure," said Cook during his analysis on TNT Sports.

Reacting to this, Waugh wrote on X. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from Alistair Cook. As a international cricketer this is what you train for and get paid for. This is a one of the best tours as a international cricketer you can go on."

I can't believe I'm hearing this from Alistair Cook. As a international cricketer this is what you train for and get paid for. This is a one of the best tours as a international cricketer you can go on. — Mark Waugh (@juniorwaugh349) March 8, 2024

Ravichandran Ashwin took a five-wicket haul in his landmark 100th Test as India hammered England by an innings and 64 runs in the fifth match to seal the series 4-1 on Saturday.

England's James Anderson reached 700 Test wickets early in the day to be just the third bowler to achieve the feat, but the tourists were never in the game.

Off-spinner Ashwin returned figures of 5 for 77 to help bowl out England for 195 inside three days at the picturesque Dharamsala stadium, overlooked by snowcapped Himalayan mountains, after India posted a mammoth 477.

Ashwin finished with nine wickets in the match and his 36th five-wicket haul in a career which began in 2011.

(With AFP Inputs)