There is no rush to hand over the leader’s baton but an early decision would allow Joe Root to bed down in time for the Ashes series next winter
Fronting up to the media after a Test defeat is something Alastair Cook has now done more than any other England captain and after the final-day collapse in Chennai he turned to the room of assembled journalists that had just grilled him in the bowels of the stadium to wish them a merry Christmas and a safe flight home.
If reporting this farewell sounds unctuous then consider the circumstances: the self-destructive tendency of his batsmen, on a pitch that just 24 hours had seen his bowlers ship a torturous 759 for seven, made them the first team in successive Tests to score 400-plus first up only to lose by an innings, in what was a record-equalling eighth England defeat in the year.
Related: We have been planning for Alastair Cook to go to Ashes, says Paul Farbrace
Related: England report card: five areas to focus on before the Ashes series next winter | Rob Smyth
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