Alastair Cook on Bazball, Root and bettering Tendulkar’s record

• READ: Alastair Cook ‘privileged’ to join game’s greats in ICC Hall of Fame
• READ: Alastair Cook: A born leader with superb mental toughness

Alastair Cook was announced as one of three new inductees into the ICC Hall of Fame last week, earning the accolade thanks to his extraordinary career numbers, finishing his Test career as England’s leading run-scorer and century-maker.

Both of those records have since been surpassed by Cook’s compatriot Joe Root, who moved beyond Cook’s figure of 12,472 Test runs during the first Test between England and Pakistan in Multan earlier this month.

And Cook explained how he couldn’t quite find the written words to congratulate his friend and compatriot on the day, so opted to call him after play instead.

“I watched the moment, then I rang him after the end of the play,” Cook said during a round-table interview hosted by the ICC.

“I couldn't think of the right words to write in a text message. So I thought I’d just ring him, see what he was up to, and make sure he had a beer in his hand, which I think he did.”

Root’s achievement means there are now six players ahead of Cook in the standings for most runs in Test cricket, with Sachin Tendulkar out in front with 15,921.

Yet Cook hopes that Root can make up the deficit in what remains of his career, to surpass Tendulkar.

“I think Joe Root could set a mark, certainly on an English side, that’ll be very hard to beat. But you just never know.

“I hope he can get very close, if not be the first person who scores 16,000 Test runs. It'd be a great achievement.”

Root’s remarkable form over the past four years has seen him score more than half of his total 35 Test centuries in that period, averaging close to 60.

And Cook believes that he is currently the best batter in the world, perhaps only matched by New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, and showing better form than both Steve Smith and Virat Kohli – the other members of the group known by many as the ‘big four’.

“I think at this precise moment in time, I find it hard to see anyone playing as well as Joe Root,” Cook said.

“Over the last year or so, of the so-called ‘Big Four’, I think Williamson and him are probably in the best form at the moment

“They're all wonderful, wonderful players, all very different, actually, in their methods and ways of playing. But one thing which kind of unites them is that hunger and desire to keep improving and keep churning out the runs.”

Cook’s induction into the ICC Hall of Fame comes six years after his retirement from international cricket.

In that time England have undergone something of a transformation, adopting a far more aggressive approach to Test cricket under the leadership of head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.

The new style of England’s cricket contrasts with that of Cook’s own career, with the left-handed opener scoring his vast number of runs at a strike rate of 46.95 across his Test career.

Yet Cook is a big advocate of England’s new ‘Bazball’ style.

“I think the game has certainly made a big jump forward in what is now deemed possible in Test cricket.

“I think the jump happened in one day cricket first, probably. The fundamental change, certainly from the English point of view, is when Owen Morgan took the side forward in 2015. And obviously the Ben Stokes era has changed the mentality of what was possible.”

A recent example of England’s new approach came in that first Test against Pakistan, when they scored 823/7 in their first innings, with Harry Brook’s 317 making him the second-fastest triple centurion in history, bringing up his milestone off just 310 balls.

For Cook, it is the fact that England have so many players who play in an aggressive fashion that separates them as unusual. But he did urge for fans to remember that these individual feats are not all new, and that there have been plenty of fast-scoring players in the history of the game, including the holder of the fastest triple-century, Virender Sehwag.

“We shouldn’t forget there were some past players who were also belligerent run-scorers as well,” Cook said.

“I think Harry Brook joined (Virender) Sehwag with his 300, and Sehwag’s didn't come off too many balls either (278).

“I just think I've never seen a team push the boundaries quite as much as this England team have done.

“There's obviously been great sides in the past who would score quickly, but not quite as quickly as this side seemed able and willing to do.

“I'm all for embracing it, and that's why I'm saying comparing generations and comparing different times of cricket is very hard to do. But I do think we are seeing more players willing to put the bowlers under more pressure in red-ball cricket.

“I think ultimately, it's about runs scored and the end product.”

• Read: AB de Villiers: Mr 360 belongs in a league of his own
• Read: Neetu David: An India legend - both on and off the field

Cook travelled to the UAE for the announcement of his induction into the ICC Hall of Fame, where he and his family also watched the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final.

Cook is joined in the ICC Hall of Fame by fellow new inductees Neetu David and AB de Villiers.